On behalf of the Executive Committee I wish you all a vibrant, colourful and fun-filled
Durga Puja!
The maturity which Swisspuja has reached over the last years is really commendable.
The reason lies in the untiring efforts of our members and in the selfless nature of
service which they render.
2015 started with a series of online meetings, online being our common medium of
communication along with Whatsapp and Viber. Yes, we truly live in an internet
dominated era.
Our first two events on 9th May were the outcome of a request for Prabhat Pheri, which got extended by not only
holding a morning march next to the Zürich lake, singing Rabindranath Thakur’s songs but also by celebrating his
birthday by putting up a never-before cultural evening “Rabindra Jayanti”, which was completely dedicated to the
poet. Rendering Tagore’s songs to the beats of a khol, in the background of Zurich Lake and Swiss Alps was an alltime memorable affair. The cultural evening presented by singers and orators of all ages was a new experience of its
kind. We took the risk of not using any accompanying music and what a success it was. It created a mesmerising
trance, the effects of which could well be felt over the rest of the following week by many. Everybody, young and old,
was singing Tagore’s songs or listening to them on various media.
Picnic, our next event on 21st June, was full of fun and frolic, bonhomie and good cheer.
Then started the gruelling preparations for our Durga Puja - running for sponsors, chasing for articles, planning floor
arrangements, discussing decoration concepts, reserving flight tickets, deciding on menus, ordering flowers, practising
songs and dances, requesting donors - you name it.
Finally the day has arrived.
We have decided to perform Mahishahur Mardini in a new garb. Professional artistes from India and local amateur
singers are being made to sing the immortal Mahalaya songs, interspersed with recitations.
Decoration during Durga Puja – a different initiative – Courtesy of our professional decorator, we have tried to usher
in the concept of themes at our Durga Puja this year. The theme this year is “Kolkata” – the city which has not only
been the inspiration of poets, writers, musicians, singers, bards, dancers, artists and painters, dramatists and
filmmakers, nationalists and political thinkers, but is and has been the cradle of many a thing creative.
We are collaborating this year with Usthi Foundation and have pledged to collect funds for the earthquake ridden
people of Nepal. I hope you all are with us on this and would generously support the cause.
We wish you once again from the bottom of our hearts and hope that Ma Durga showers Her Blessings on us all.
May your Puja days and your lives be embalmed by Her Grace!
We are and would remain obliged to the kindness and generosity shown by our members, donors, sponsors and
friends.
I would like to end here with a prayer from Brhadaranyaka Upanishad:
asato mā sad gamaya
tamaso mā jyotir gamaya
mṛtyor mā amṛtaṁ gamaya
On behalf of the Executive Committee of 2015
Shubhra Kanti Acharya
President Swisspuja
Email: president@swisspuja.org

From ignorance lead me to truth
From darkness lead me to light
From death lead me to immortality
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Editorial

Completing a Dozen Years!
By Brindarica Bose
This year, Swisspuja completes a dozen years. Kids who
were born in 2004—the year when puja started in
Switzerland are about to become teenagers and our
Patrika too has undergone a huge growth spurt.
Compared to ~15 authors in previous issues, last year
we received submissions from 35 contributors and this
year from 45! The best part is, not only have we
managed to retain our past authors but have also
successfully nudged avant garde authors—to write for
the Patrika.

measure of success—something which touches people’s
lives and has an impact far beyond its hundred pages. A
big thank you to all our contributors!
No work is finished, without a dedicated team of
volunteers. This year, our Patrika’s team was lucky to
have Sriparna Banerjee, who not only typed several
Bangla articles from handwritten scripts, but also
edited, proofread all Bangla submissions. With limited
time and a small child, delivering work on deadlines is
highly commendable! Sandipan Chakraborty, who
despite being very busy with Puja’s decoration
(planning and execution), supported the team whenever
required. Tanmoy Pal, who is the Spiderman in our
team—weaving magic with his designing and
typesetting talent, has been an invaluable asset to
Swisspuja, responsible for typesetting the Patrika from
2013 till current issue. He spent hours sitting on his
Mac, carefully selecting photos and designing the
pages, as his wife took care of their newborn. It has
truly been my pleasure and privilege to work with such
a dedicated, selfless, and professional team. Then there
are volunteers who prefer not to be mentioned, like
Dipanjana Ghosh (sorry, I had to say a word of
thanks!), who advised and helped us, and whenever I
called her related to Patrika, always said, “No problem,
amake pathiye de ami type kore debo”. The Advertising team
(names listed in the Contents page), led by this year’s
President, Shubhra Kanti Acharya, undertook a
herculean task, to procure advertisements for the
Patrika. Thank you Aranya Bhattacharya, for sharing
your printing expertise and an extended thanks from
entire Swisspuja Committee to All—who helped us
with the Patrika; and my personal thanks to Srijit, Arul
and Jeet—my three men who tolerated me—spending
endless hours from February to September, almost 9
months, working on the Patrika.

The model for the Patrika’s content remained the same
as last year; selected authors were invited to write on
defined topics, which was supplemented by general
submissions. With this formula we achieved a diverse
thali—an array of articles from serious to hilarious;
from how to recover from accidents to how to fall in
love.
In current issue, we have continued with last year’s
‘Heimat’ series, with memoirs from father and son;
there is an essay based on a survey conducted with six
parents with children in the age group of 6 to 40+, in
the section 'Parenting'; ‘Swisspuja Potpourri’—which is
a reflection of past 12 years, with photos from this
year’s Rabindra Jayanti, picnic and other events;
anecdotes from past Presidents and an interview with
our Joydeb babu by Rajat Bhattacharya. No Bengali
function is complete without a sumptuous meal, so
keeping this trend in mind we asked our expert chefs to
share recipes of their favourite dishes—to fill our
readers’ virtual appetite. There is another new series on
‘Swiss Landmarks’—CERN, Art Basel and Geneva
Autosalon; a personal recollection in ‘Expat Diary’;
‘Travelogues’; ‘Photographer's Gallery’; and pages from
the diary of a globe trotter, who took us to Antarctica
last year and transports us to the Arctic circle this year
for the Solar Eclipse. There is a hand-drawn illustration
based on the story of Durga Puja—particularly for our
young readers and a ‘Kids Gallery’ with tiny tots posing
for our Patrika. There is much much more for you to
read and discover, in all three languages - English,
Bangla and German!

So, go on, flip the pages, and share this Patrika’s online
version with your friends and family. Happy Reading
and yes, if you ever nurtured the idea of becoming a
writer—remember it is never too late!

We truly believe that, creativity is something which
should not only be nurtured in children, but also in
adults. In our day-to-day life, many of us have either
forsaken or have no time for our creative activities—be
it music, painting, writing prose or photography. Our
Patrika has tried to revive exactly that—less time on
facebook, more time with a real pen and brush,
nurturing this natural talent. One of our artist, picked
up his brush after 25 years (!) to paint for our Patrika,
and yet another, after 15 years—to me this is the real

Left to right: Sandipan, Tanmoy, Brindarica and Sriparna

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SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

“Tilottama Kolkata” - 2015
Swisspuja decoration theme

Durga

Message
Sarasi Das Roy
Contact:
sarasi.dasroy@
gmail.com

the Academy of Fine Arts, Birla Academy of Art &
Culture, etc.

Puja, today, goes far beyond religion.

She has been a pioneer in the conception and design of
many renowned puja venues in Kolkata. Her journey
in this field began in 2010 when she designed the puja
pratima for United Club, Ultadanga. Her idol was
awarded the “Srestho Protima’ by Kolkata
Corporations. In 2012, her theme for Beliaghata
Nabamilan was awarded by channel 10 and also won
the jury award by ABP Ananda. In 2013, her concept
for Sukanta Nagar Sarbojonin, where the entire
decoration was made with various waste items, starting
from used pet bottles, plastic jars, damaged CDs,
broken toys, car tyres and other daily household usage
items, has been highly appreciated by one and all. The
year after, in 2014, her concept for Sammilita
Malapara Sarbojanin was based on the ancient practice
of ‘Kavad’ storytelling, immensely popular in the
western region of India, especially in Rajasthan. This
won the jury award by ABP Ananda. Apart from this,
she has also been a part of several esteemed juries like
the committee for selecting the best Pujas in and
around Kolkata, by Anadabazar Patrika and Airtel,
Pratidin (Daily News Paper) and Channel10.

It is a collective reflection of our thoughts and in
essence, an extension of our very selves. For most of us,
this time of the year is when nostalgia hits the hardest.
Switzerland, with its infinite beauty, fails to measure up
to our beloved Kolkata, decked up in bridal finery and
unparalleled festivities. This year, as we welcome Maa
Durga to her Swiss abode, we have tried our very best
to capture the quintessential spirit of the city of joy, to
make her feel at home, far far away from home.
This wouldn’t have been possible without the tireless
efforts of our esteemed designer from Kolkata – Sarasi
Das Roy. With her expert guidance & seamless
execution, we have taken our very first step towards the
introduction of a theme for this year’s puja in
Switzerland that not only entices us to savour the sweet
memories of our beloved city, it also takes us there,
both in body and mind, through the beautiful depiction
of images, art & crafts, people and the intrinsic soul of
Kolkata.
Born in Kolkata, to parents with an artistic bent of
mind, Sarasi’s innate flair for art had manifested itself
at quite an early age. She drew her inspiration from her
daily surroundings, capturing a magnetic vibrancy
through the texture and richness of colour. She holds a
Masters in Visual Arts from the Government College of
Art & Craft in Kolkata. Over the years, her work has
been exhibited at innumerable prestigious centres like

It has been a privilege to have her onboard for
Swisspuja 2015. On behalf of everybody in the Swiss
puja committee, we would like to extend our heartfelt
gratitude and appreciation to Sarasi for her invaluable
contribution and incredible efforts in making this a
success.

In Memoriam
On a regretful note, we have recently lost three prominent and active members of our community. On 29th June,
Mr. Nanda Dulal Nandi who was ailing with a malignant tumor in his colon passed away at the Hirslanden
Clinic, Aarau. Mr. Nandi in his post retirement years was an avid Indologist and a student of Sanskrit, and was an
enthusiastic participant at Durga Puja and wrote several articles in our Patrika. On 4th July, we lost Mrs. Anima
Poddar, who was ailing for a while and was in the Regionale Pflegezentrum Baden, she had been active in
Swisspuja before she fell ill and always used to arrive early at Puja venue to help, her presence will be missed
forever. On 12th July, Mr. Sankar Chattopadhay passed away at the Aargauer Kantonsspital, Aarau where he
had been admitted after a sudden heart attack. We express our deep and heartfelt condolences to the bereaved
families and pray that they have the strength and courage to bear the irreparable loss.

Nandadulal Nandi

Anima Poddar
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SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Swisspuja Potpourri
A Recollection of 12 Years

This section is a recollection of Swisspuja’s journey over the last 12 Years. Along with a collection of photos, we also asked our past Presidents
to answer two questions for this Special Feature: (1) Share your childhood memory of Durga Puja (2) Share your experience when you were
President of Swisspuja. We are extremely thankful to all our respondents for sharing their stories with us. They emphasised during the interview
that Swisspuja is a team effort and it is by the community and for the community. This feature concludes with an exclusive interview with our
Joydeb babu, who has conducted the Pujo from 2005 till date.

Shikha Dhar, owners of the Taj Palace Restaurant,
resolved this issue and generously offered their
restaurant‘s big hall, for this purpose. That is how
Swisspuja started and our first ever Sarbojanin Durga
Puja took place in Zurich in 2004.

2004 President

Taj Palace hall got transformed into a holy temple with
a vibrant environment and provided spiritual
nourishment to all. Many participated in the
celebrations in their brightly coloured outfits from all
across Switzerland. Not everyone was of Indian origin.
There were also many Swiss and people from other
nationalities who came to visit and enjoyed the
festivities. Every evening from Saptami till Navami,
Prasad was served and attendants were entertained.
Some of our members still recall the most successful
Mahishasura Mardini program that was performed by
our local talents during the cultural show. After daily
rituals, our "adda" with young and old friends would
continue till late at night, just like family addas and gettogethers back home.

Pannalal Bose
panna9839@gmail.com

D

uring my childhood in Ranchi, Durga Puja used to
begin with the Sanskrit recitation of Birendra Krishna
Bhadra in the dawn of Mahalaya, in a two hour long
radio program, at home. Mahishasura Mardini, a
collection of shlokas and songs, broadcasted at 4 a.m.
by Akashvani Kolkata on the day of Mahalaya would
be the first event to mark the festival. Out of
excitement, I would always wake up before the
Brahma-Muhurta, so that I could listen to the beautiful
melody of bansuri and sitar, in the early morning radio
broadcast.

Twelve years on, we have developed an excellent
committee with highly dedicated volunteers, who are
continuing the hard work of this once small institution,
into a much larger scale.

One of my oldest memories of Durga Puja is that of a
clay-modeller in Ranchi’s Durgabari, who used to sit in
a corner throughout the day, busy modelling and
shaping a huge Protima of Durga. I would watch him
with awe everyday, on my way back from school. I feel
nostalgic to remember how much I used to love this
‘festive season’ as a child. For me, Durga Puja meant,
playing with friends from my neighbourhood with no
pressure of homework, wearing brand new outfits,
having lavish meals and staying outdoors till late hours!

I feel very proud and honoured to have been chosen as
the first President of Swisspuja and I am thankful for
the great support that I received during my time. We
have always focused on connecting with our
community, continuing and passing on our traditions to
the future generation. Our mission was achieved and I
hope this association will carry on its good work for a
long long time.

In 1993, along with a small group of ambitious young
Bengalis in Baden/Zurich, I tried to organise the first
ever socio-religious festival of Durga Puja in
Switzerland.
We held a meeting at Kursaal Baden, where around 30
Bengali families attended. However most of the
participants disagreed with the idea of having a Durga
Puja in Switzerland, so the concept was set aside for a
while.

2005 President
Tushar Ghosh
tukgho@gmail.com

In 2003, after ten years, for the second time, again a
few Bengali families revived the idea of having a Durga
Puja in Switzerland. They were able to convince the
majority of the local Bengali community. There was a
slight concern though, as finding a big enough venue
for the Sarbojanin Durga Puja in Baden or Zurich area
would be a challenging task. Fortunately, Shekhar and

M

y childhood memories of Durga Puja are full of
carefree festive days, spent with family and friends, back
home, in India.
For those of us, who emigrated to Switzerland before
the 1980s, celebrating Durga Puja in this country was

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SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Retrospect

M

like a long cherished dream come true! And this dream
could materialize only because of two main reasons:
Firstly, due to Shikha and Shekhar Dhars’ generous
offer to use Taj Palace’s hall as the Puja venue; and
secondly due to the boundless enthusiasm and effort
undertaken by the not-so-young as well as the younger
generation (especially those who came after the 80s).

y memories go back to 1942. No, it has nothing
to do with the “Quit India movement”. Japanese
bombarded Rangoon on the 21st December 1941. We
literally ran and ran until we came to a safer area to
escape the massacre of bombardment. We were lucky
to find a ship which brought us to Calcutta. Finally we
settled down in Bombay. Bengal Club used to organise
Durga Puja which was held in a plot next to where we
lived. It was fun time for us for five long days in a row.
Religion, God, Goddesses and The Almighty were not
in our dictionary. But we still religiously attended
“Anjali” getting up early in the morning having a bath
and with empty stomach, just for Prosad and Sweets.
Got new shirts and pants and even a pair of shoes. It
was fun time for us.

After the successful completion of the first Durga Puja
in Zurich, which was a new venture with many
uncertainties, in the second year we focussed primarily
on establishing a strong foundation for Swisspuja as an
organisation. Our main focus areas were the following:
- Establishing a permanent address for the Puja.
- Establishing a permanent Post Account for Swisspuja.
- Introducing Swisspuja Patrika.
- Organising sponsorship through advertisements in the
Patrika.
- Organising sponsorships for different Puja items e.g
flowers for Astami etc.
- Arranging a new priest, for the entire ceremony.

We had to carry out errands for Borida, Chottida,
Dineshda and others for which we got more “Prosad”
with “Misti”. Lunch and dinner were not a part of the
rituals then. After dinner it was entertainment time
until after two in the morning, a very important part
for all of us young and old. Songs by Manna Dey and
Geeta Roy would be part of the program. They were
then not so popular. Mohila Somity would organise
dances and short plays performed by youngsters. Then
there would be a theatrical act by grown ups, like “Dui
Purush”, by upcoming cinema character artists. Still
remember a dialog from Dui Purush, “Na Bimola shey
hoina, amake nemontono rokkhaa korte jetei hobe”.
Bimola was our dear “Banida”. Why Banida had to
always play the part of a woman was a puzzle for us.

We tried to give the festival a strong foundation and a
defined structure for future growth. I feel happy to see,
how well Swisspuja has grown, in all these years.

2006 President
Aditya Banerjee

We always wanted to organise Durga Puja in Baden
but could not agree with the elders who, as the
tradition in Bengal is “Aami tor che boro naa”, knew
better. During the beginning of 70s, six families did get
together to organise the Bijoya Sammelani inviting all
the known Bengalis in Switzerland. This ran for a few
years and then faded out.

adiiban@gmail.com

T

he Most fascinating thing about Durga Puja is the
spirit of togetherness that blooms during these five
days. The other thing is the ‘Sandhipuja’, that too
sometimes in the eerie silence of the night. I still
remember, as a child, standing next to my grandmother
with folded hands, curiously trying to imagine a sense
of connection with the divine.

2007: Swisspuja has had three successful years behind
them. For the new committee it was Durga Puja must
go on. Very simple, invite the same known purohit, ask
the same travel agent to organise the visa, the air ticket
and travel plan for the purohit. Use available data from
the past years, like quantity and types of fruits, flowers
etc. required and used. Select the same volunteers for
puja part and that is all. In addition ensure simple food
for all during lunch and dinner to enable families
coming from far and wide to stay. Wooing all Bengalees
who were unaware of Swisspuja was important, this
increased the number of visitors. Raising finances
through advertisements in puja Patrika brought in extra
financial help.

When we conceived the idea of having a Durga Puja in
Switzerland, our goal was to recreate images of these
nostalgic moments and share them with one and all.
Particularly with our children, who could then grow up
with similar fond memories of their own. With divine
blessings, we have succeeded.

Swisspuja did not only survive but also grew in size and
earned more money. But 2008 was the year of
unexpected surprises and challenges. A new venue was
found, full amount paid in advance, contract signed
and sealed. Even then just two weeks before the start of
Durga Puja the owners of the venue cancelled the
contract. Frantic search for a new place with sleepless
nights went on and just three days before Shosti we
found a place with a kitchen. Thank God, no must
thank Ma Durga, she probably raised her right hand
and said “to-thastu” and likewise the contract with the

2007 President
2008 President
2009 President
Gautam Sengupta
g_sengupta@bluewin.ch

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Retrospect

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Germans for this new place was cancelled and in the
nick of time we were there to take the venue. To keep
control over cost we decided to cook food ourselves.
Months before, 4 ladies agreed to cook food for us. One
of them, without any good reason, dropped out just 2
weeks before. This was the second surprise, but we were
prepared with Plan “B”.

2011 President
Pradip Nandi
nandi8810@gmail.com

2009 Puja is for everybody. So let this be a temple for 5
days and allow everybody to come and pray. Invite
other communities from India living in Switzerland to
join in the religious activities and contribute in the
cultural part. All said and done Swispuja has reached
the critical mass and will continue to sustain its
activities for many more years to come. Now that the
youngsters are involved with their heart, soul, mind and
hands, there is no going back. Besides, evidences show
Ma Durga has come here to stay, probably she likes the
Swiss snowy mountains more than the Himalayas or
did she see our sincerity/honesty or our real desire to
have a home away from home. Whatever! Swisspuja is
one of the very few groups organising most authentic
Durga puja outside India. Swisspuja is now known not
only in and around Switzerland bordering countries but
also in whole of Europe. Swisspuja is now well
organised. The insiders who are involved with their
“Praan” are working very hard and like swiss clockwork
—to make it all happen. Keep it up and going!

A

lthough I was hesitant to be forced into a role I
didn’t want to be in, it ended up being a pleasant and
amazing experience for me, which will be etched into
my memories forever. I was lucky to be working with a
great team of like-minded people who shared common
goals. The team was committed to working for the
organization’s future by employing stringent financial
discipline and reinforcing our values-based culture,
ultimately managing to build goodwill for the Swiss
puja community through various outreach programs. In
addition, we were blessed with the continued
unwavering support and guidance from our senior
members. The highlight of our time spent in the
committee was, successfully bringing a new “Ma
Durga” deity from Kolkata. This was made possible
due to the tireless hours spent by committee members
in designing and planning the entire journey of the idol
from Kolkata to Zurich, including customs clearance at
Zurich airport. Since my time in the committee, the
Swisspuja organization has grown and is also involved
in other social and charitable activities, fast becoming a
valuable gem promoting a rich Eastern legacy and
heritage embedded in the backdrop of a Swiss
landscape.

orn in a family having in-house Durga Puja both in
Bhagalpur (my birth-place) and Kolkata, I always
enjoyed the celebrations. As a child I still remember the
following:
(a) I had to hide myself in a corner – both hands
covering my eyes when Balidan was carried-out.
(b) Could not hold myself from crying on the day of
Bisharjan because Ma Durga was going away.
Even today this has not changed.
I expected to lean back in an easy-chair after an
unexpected nomination as the President of Swisspuja
2010. Well, it was just the opposite – I had to sacrifice
most of my time fighting upstream against all odds. We
were very small (actually four) in number executive
members, outnumbered by 10 or 15 today. Without the
support of the executive members especially
Jyotiprasad Majumder with his vast experience as
Secretary of Swisspuja, it would not have been possible
to ultimately end the Puja celebration successfully.
Inspite of all the handicaps, we managed.
I feel honoured and happy to help Swisspuja in this
wonderful journey of tradition and cultural integration.

Please tell us something about yourself.
Joydeb babu: I was born in Baranagar, in the suburbs of
Kolkata. After my Matriculation from Victoria High
School, I studied for a B. Com. degree at Calcutta
University. Thereafter, I started working for Syndicate
Bank at Kolkata. I have also studied Homeopathy and
am a practicing Homeopath (after office hours).
I live in a joint family which comprises of my elder
brother and my families. We have a tradition of daily
worship at our family house where we worship
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Retrospect

Narayan, Kali and Shiv. Since childhood, I have seen
Pujo being conducted with devotion and care, by my
father and it is from him that I have learnt the basics of
conducting a Pujo.
I had an arranged marriage and saw Mita, my wife for
the first time on the day of my marriage. Mita is a
teacher at Baranagar Narendra Nath Vidyamandir.
She is highly qualified with M.A., M. Phil and B. Ed.
degrees, the last two completed after marriage. She has
been my life partner in a true sense. Our one and only
son Shubhradev is currently studying for B. Tech in
Civil Engineering at Netaji Subhash College of
Engineering.
How did you get connected to Swisspuja?
Joydeb babu: Decades back, my neighbour from
Baranagar, Shipra di came to my home and said that
they needed a Purohit to conduct their Durga Puja in
Frankfurt, Germany, so that is how I first arrived in
Europe to conduct Pujo.

Joydeb Bhattacharya with his family

Later, through Shipra-di, Debashree and Ashish
Banerjee came to know about me and asked if I could
also conduct Pujo in Switzerland. Aranya Bhattacharya
visited me to discuss this further in Kolkata, and it was
finalized that I would conduct Pujo in Switzerland from
2005.

Joydeb babu: Switzerland is a beautiful country. The
surroundings are clean, the ambience peaceful.
Switzerland as per latest research also has one of the
best living conditions and people there are happy.
It is also worth mentioning that, expatriate families
living there have a high respect for Indian traditions
and culture and there is a family-like feeling within the
Swisspuja community. I myself have noticed, e.g. how
members speak to one-another just like sibling or
family members, enquiring after their meals, or
ensuring that work gets distributed evenly so as not to
burden any one.

Since then, I have been going to Z端rich every year and
I must say that starting from Barandala decoration to
all customs, Bodhon, Sashti to Dashami and Bisorjon,
each and every custom of Durga Puja is meticulously
followed by the devotees in Switzerland and this is what
makes Swisspuja so unique. It is this authenticity, which
has also evoked a huge response from the expatriate
community and the festival has grown into bigger
proportions since 2004. I wish Swisspuja more success
in the years to come.

This feeling of antorikota makes Swisspuja special, and
this is what is missing in the barowari pujas of Kolkata.
There are devotees who come for Pushpanjali without
even drinking water and it is this devotion and nishtha
which makes Ma Durga come and stay.

What is your impression of Switzerland, now
that you have visited this country for the last
eleven years?

We asked the following questions to our
candidates ...
When did you arrive in Switzerland and how?
Would you call India or Switzerland your home?
When you go to India, what do you feel has changed?
Pick 5 best features of Swiss culture and 5 best of Indian
culture, which our young Indo-Swiss generations can learn from.

Baden and Wettingen and addresses of three families
where rooms were available for rent. Based on
instructions given by the Personal Office I walked
around Baden and Wettingen and met all three families
and checked their available rooms. Finally, I chose a
room with an attached bath and a WC, in a house
situated almost at the far end of the town Wettingen.
After walking back again to the Personal Office, I went
to meet the head of my department ‘High Voltage
Laboratory’ and to discuss with him about my job. But
he was kind to me and asked me to take rest after the
long journey from India. Discussion about my job and
related tasks was postponed till next morning. I took my
luggage from the Personal Office and went back to my
room. And that is how my life started in Switzerland,
exactly 53 years ago.

Basantabihari Palit
Engineering from India, PhD in
Germany, Privatdozent in ETH
Zürich, now retired; a prolific writer
with two published books, 'Der
Sternenwunsch' and
'Shubhakankhini Tara'.
Contact: b.palit@bluewin.ch

Heimat—A Memoir

Which is my Home?
I came to Switzerland with the purpose of gaining
some industrial experience and stay for maximum three
years. But “Man proposes and God disposes” – this
became true for me. Ten months after my arrival I got
married to Miss Indira Sarkar, a Bengali lady working
at that time in the Embassy of India, Bern as an
interpreter. In the course of time our son Orun was
born, few years later he started going to kindergarten
and then to school. We were also slowly feeling more at
home in Switzerland. I had no problem with the High
German language because I had studied in Germany
for four years before coming to Switzerland. Neither
had my wife any problem with the language. Her
mother-tongue was in fact German since her mother
was an Austrian lady born in Innsbruck. My wife had a
number of relatives in Austria whom we used to visit
every now and then. Gradually we developed more
interest towards the Swiss way of life and tried to
understand Swiss politics and follow Swiss events. In my
enthusiasm I even took lessons in Swiss German dialect.
I had a number of friendly colleagues who gave me car
driving lessons as well. My wife made friends with many
Swiss and German women in our area. We came to the
conclusion that we could permanently settle down in
Switzerland. In due time I applied for Swiss citizenship
and later also served in civil defence.

Arrival at the Heaven on Earth: Switzerland
It was an early morning in the month of October 16,
1962 when my plane landed in Zurich International
Airport. The air outside was cool, sky was a bit foggy
and the day looked grey. I came from Calcutta (now
Kolkata) where the autumnal golden Sun was still
shining; the sky was azure blue and the weather—
pleasant and warm. On my first day in Switzerland, I
experienced a gloomy contrast, climatically. It was my
very first trip to Switzerland, and with no google and
smart phones available in those days, I had no idea
where the town Baden was and how to reach there.
This made me a bit anxious. The only thing that I knew
was that, I must report to Brown Boveri & Company, in
short BBC, an International Electrical Firm, located in
Baden. I had an employment letter from BBC in my
hand bag. After coming out of the arrival lounge of
Zurich airport I saw, to my relief, a person holding a
placard with the script “Brown Boveri”. I was naive
enough to think, that the person had perhaps come to
receive me. But alas, the person with the placard told
me that he was waiting for the arrival of a top manager
of Brown Boveri whose plane would land in more or
less the same time as mine. He suggested that perhaps I
could wait for a while till the expected top manager got
into the car. Afterwards he would be in a position to
decide whether he could also give me a free lift in the
limousine which had been ordered for the VIP. Luck
was in my favour, the expected manager did not arrive
and I became the sole passenger in the big limousine!
What an unusual piece of luck on my very first day in
Switzerland.

The question of home or home country is ever present
in the mind of all immigrants. In most cases the birth
country is our ‘natural home’. While we stay in foreign
countries we may extend the concept of home to an
‘accepted home’ or an ‘adopted home’ (‘Wahlheimat’ is
the expression in Swiss German). In fact, I have three
homes. Two are real and the third one is imaginary. My

The driver took me to the Personal Office of BBC in
Baden. There I got a road map of the twin towns,
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SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015
‘natural home’ is India, my ‘accepted home’ or
‘adopted home’ is Switzerland. My third home may be
named as ‘could be’ or ‘next choice’ which for me is
Germany where I stayed for four years, studied and
completed a research work, and had the opportunity to
learn many useful things for life and for my profession.
There, I made acquaintance with a number of good
friends and families. I like the people and the country
to such an extent that I could stay in Germany life-long.
The fact that my second wife, Usha Bauer is German
has in fact increased my love and interest for this
country.

Interview

traditions, I can mention alphorn which is regarded as
a typical Swiss instrument with a warm sound. Another
speciality is yodelling which is singing without words.
Other examples are: flag throwing and Swiss Wrestling
(‘Schwingen’ in Switzerland and ‘Ringen’ in Germany).
A Swiss story which has gone around the world is that
of Heidi, a novel written by Johanna Spyri. Her novel
is one of the world’s best-selling books and is one of the
most successful children’s stories ever written. To date,
the book has been translated into 50 languages. There
is also a movie on Heidi produced by the Japanese.
It may be worth mentioning here that Switzerland and
India have one thing in common when it comes to
politics and that is ‘democracy’. Switzerland is one of
the oldest and India has the largest democracy in the
World.

Comparison between my Two ‘Home’
Countries
Although settled in Switzerland, I visit India time and
again. It is a natural tendency in human beings to
compare the problems and features of countries. When
I am in India, I miss among other things the hygiene,
collective cleanliness, well-constructed streets and
roads, medicinal facilities, discipline and organisational
capacity of Switzerland and life without mosquito bites
specially in the evenings. On the other hand, when I
am in Switzerland, I miss my relatives and friends,
special Indian food, various types of leafy vegetables
and Kasundi (a mustard-mango delicacy of Bengal),
famous Bengali sweets, dried mango pulp (Aamshatto),
warm climate in winter and sometimes the warmth of
human heart.

Few Personal Experiences
While I was a Lecturer in FITZ (ETH Zurich) I helped
one of my students with my counselling. Miss Mertens
(Name changed) was suffering psychologically on
account of her father, an industrial worker. He did not
like the fact that his daughter had decided to become
an electrical engineer instead of preparing herself for a
profession befitting the working class people. The angry
father refused to pay for her educational expenses.
Moreover, he started disturbing her during her study
hours at home by turning on the radio or playing the
television too loud. One day he lost his nerve and even
slapped her. In order to help her come out of this
unhappy and challenging situation I suggested her to
contact the firm Brown Boveri and ask them to finance
her education. In return she could sign an employment
contract with BBC for a year or two maximum.
Further, I recommended her to use the quiet readingroom of the FITZ library, instead of studying at home.
As regards to her father’s temper it was high time to
threaten her father with police if he would become
violent again. It would be appropriate if her boyfriend
could articulate this warning to Mr. Mertens.

In spite of many disadvantages and problems, India
will always be my motherland. Mother may be poor
but still she will always remain my beloved mother.
India is also my spiritual home. I bow to her.
Swiss and Indian Culture
I consider myself not competent enough to comment
on the cultures of these two great countries. But I can
mention some points from my own observation and
experience:
India is the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism
and Sikhism. Apart from these four religions, the
inhabitants of India have so many other religions
which were founded outside India. There is no country
on this earth where so many religions live side by side
in peace. India has so many languages, so many types
of dances, music, architecture, sculpture, painting,
dress, food and customs—all the factors which
contribute to a rich Indian culture. Many elements of
India’s diverse cultures, such as Indian religions, yoga
and Indian cuisine have had a profound impact all over
the world. The two great epics of India - Ramayana
and Mahabharata - are well known. India celebrates
several festivals, we are aware of the Bengali saying:
thirteen in twelve months (Baro masher tero parban).

My other significant experience, took place in the
North-West Institute of Technology in Muttenz where
I was teaching electrical machinery and power
electronics. Mr. Aschwanden (name changed) was my
student. He was too quiet for his age. He was polite and
had good manners. But electrical engineering with
abstract theories was a difficult subject for him to
comprehend. His test marks were low. There was no
chance of him passing the examination. One day I
called him to my office and asked him what had
motivated him to study electrical engineering instead of
choosing a non-engineering profession? To my
astonishment, he told me that he had been forced to
study electrical engineering by his mother. I requested
him to bring his mother to my office for a discussion.
One day Mr. Aschwanden came to my office with his
mother. I tried to explain to her that her son would
definitely be successful in any other profession of his
liking, instead of electrical engineering. I told her, that
her son was still very young and could learn any other
subject rather fast. It really made no sense to waste his
time here in Muttenz and fail through his
examinations. Unfortunately, she was not ready to
change her opinion. She said that her husband and her
father-in-law were both successful electrical engineers.

Although I have lived in Switzerland longer than I have
lived in India, still I feel slightly inhibited in
commenting about Swiss culture. One aspect is very
evident. Three major languages of Europe – German,
French and Italian – are national languages of
Switzerland along with Romansh, spoken by a small
minority. The Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
(ETH Zürich) occupies a top position in the field of
science and technology and has produced a great
number of Nobel Prize Winners. Amongst customs and
23

Interview

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

She could not understand why her son could also not
become one—following the family trait. I tried to
explain to Mrs. Aschwanden that every human being is
different and is capable of achieving success in any
profession that he is passionate about. To my great
disappointment, Mrs. Aschwanden left my office
without making any compromise. I felt very sorry for
my student and was worried about his future. Few days
later, I heard the sad news that my student had jumped
from a high building and had ended his life and all the
controversies around his chosen path. This was a very
tragic experience in my life. I was very sad and
frustrated as I could not help him.

Orun Palit
I am 50 years old, married to Moutushi.
We have a 17 year old daughter called
Ronia. My hobbies are: family, politics,
travelling, films, jogging and watching
US series.
Check out my website for more info:
www.orunpalit.ch
Contact: palit@sunrise.ch

How was I born in Switzerland and why is
Wettingen my home?
My mother tongue is German, not Bengali! How
come? My grandfather, Prof. Benoy Kumar Sarkar,
born in 1887 in Malda, West Bengal, was a freedom
fighter and a young professor at the beginning of the
20th century. In 1914, he was invited to a lecturing trip
to the USA and his ship stopped in England before
taking off to New York. My grandmother at that time,
a 17 year old Austrian girl worked as an “Au Pair” in
London, but wanted to return back to Austria as the 1st
World War broke out, and being an Austrian national it
was not safe anymore to stay in London. However, she
didn’t find a way to go back to her parents to
Innsbruck. She was stuck in London. Her American
relatives reacted quickly and invited her to come to the
USA instead. They sent money to London and she
could buy a ticket for a one way journey to New York.
The captain of the ship took care of the young
Austrian lady and put her to the Indian group as they
were not involved in any 1st World War conflict. The
captain thought that she might be safe with the group
of Indian intellectuals. And of course, my grandfather
was part of that group and that is how they fell in love
during the 3-4 weeks journey on the ship to the USA.
My grandmother stayed on in the USA for another 9
years. My grandfather went back to India in the
meantime and asked her to marry 8 years later. She
accepted his proposal, and they got married finally in
1924 and she moved with my grandfather to Kolkata in
India. My mother, half Bengali, half Austrian was born
in 1925 and she lived 20 years in Kolkata. For further
studies, her parents sent her to Sorbonne University in
France where she got her PhD in French Literature.
Unfortunately, during that time, her father, my
grandfather passed away in 1949, shortly after India’s
independence. My mother asked her Austrian mother
to come to Europe and live with her there. My mother

Then another time, at FITZ, the Chief of our Institute
sent to me a student and requested me to try to
convince him (the student), Mr. Naegeli (name
changed), to give up his idea of committing suicide!
The student was tall and robust in health. But his mind
was weak. When I delicately asked him, as to why he
was so keen on committing suicide he told me that, he
was not fit for this world. He could not struggle. He felt
that he would not be successful in his professional life
because he would never be able to compete with others
und also would not be able to keep up with new
developments. When he watched his fellow-students
studying with so much of concentration in the big
reading-room of the library he would feel nervous. He
felt that his fellow-students were making rapid progress
in their studies and he would certainly not be able to
keep up with them. Therefore, he arrived at the
conclusion that it was useless for him to live any longer.
I tried to encourage him by rectifying some of his
thoughts. I told him that many students in the readingroom did not actually read text books or university
notes or solve home tasks but were simply busy reading
newspapers, crime novels or journals, or perhaps
engaged in just writing love-letters to their girl-friends!
Regarding the professional life I gave him the address of
a firm looking for a number of young IT- personnel for
a project. As an IT- professional he would be
independent and would not have any peer pressure.
Above all, I tried to make him understand that our life
on earth is way too precious to annihilate it willingly. I
tried to inspire Mr. Naegeli with courage and he was
finally convinced and tried to take positive steps in his
life.

Author with friend
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SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015
finally settled down in Switzerland and worked for the
Indian embassy until 1964. My mother and my
grandmother lived in Berne, the capital of Switzerland
from 1950 – 1964. My grandmother passed away in
Berne in 1963. Luckily, my mother got to know my
father in 1964 at one of the Indian embassy’s social
functions. My father is a 100% Bengali and worked at
ABB in Switzerland at that time. Before working in
Switzerland, he got a scholarship from India to study in
Dresden, Eastern Germany at that time. He got his
PhD in Electrical Engineering from there. After
returning back to India, he found a job at ABB in
India. They sent him later to the headquarters in
Switzerland, in the 1960s. That is how he arrived at
Switzerland. So my parents met in Switzerland and
that is why I was born and brought up in Switzerland.
And my mother tongue is German as my mother was
half Austrian and Indian and my father was able to
speak German before I was born. That is the reason,
why I, somehow, never learnt to speak Bengali, but
understand most of it.

Interview

PhD degree in Finance at the same university. I started
my working career in Zurich in 1993, lived in Zurich as
well. I got married in 1995 and in 1998 our daughter
was born (in Zurich). By chance, we got the
opportunity to buy a small house in Wettingen where
we moved in the year of 2000. Somehow the circle has
made its full turn. I grew up in Wettingen and came
back to Wettingen as a middle aged man. In Wettingen,
I joined the political Green Liberal Party in 2011 and
got elected to the local parliament in 2013. Lately I
decided to run for a member of National Parliament.
However, I view politics as my hobby, my main job is
being a relationship manager at a small bank in Zurich
where I service high networth individual clients and
since 2014, I am also the Chief Investment Officer,
responsible for the investment strategies of our client’s
discretionary portfolios.

Ram Mitra, is in Switzerland for
more than 30 years and has been a
patron of Swisspuja and has
organized several Indo-Swiss events.
He works with a Pharmaceutical and
lives in Basel with his wife and
children.
Contact: fam.mitra@gmail.com

I was born in Baden in 1965. The first 7 years (1965 –
1972), I grew up in Nussbaumen. After that we moved
to Wettingen. There we stayed for about 10 years (1973
– 1982). I attended Bezirksschule in Wettingen and the
Kantonsschule Baden for 1 ½ years. In Wettingen, I
had a wonderful childhood. I was very active with
playing field hockey. With HC Wettingen, we won the
Swiss junior championship three times. In those busy
days, I had training three times a week and matches at
the weekends. It was a very intensive period. I also
joined the catholic youth group with whom I went
hiking to the Corsican mountains in France for 10 days.
It was my first trip abroad without my parents. I was 15
years old then. So this trip will always stay in my mind.
When I was 17, due to my father’s change of jobs, we
had to move to Muttenz (BL) in 1982. For me, that was
not a very nice time. I hardly made any new friends. I
often came back to Wettingen at the weekends. So after
finishing my gymnasium, I joined the Swiss army for
the compulsory duty for 5 months. After that, I
attended an English course in Cambridge (UK) for
three months. I loved Cambridge. What a beautiful
student town. In August of 1985, I joined the university
in Basel and completed my bachelor’s in economics in
1987. After a year of break, I decided to go to the
university of St. Gallen to attain my master’s degree in
business administration. I also continued to acquire my

What is ‘Heimat’?
I have been asked to write something about Heimat or
Homeland. Heimat or homeland is the place where
one knows oneself best— it is where one belongs. The
concept of Heimat came from German—which refers
to one’s homeland, which in today’s global perspective
is a rather unique concept which differs from person to
person.
Everyone is bound to their geographical Heimat by
birth and childhood, experience and acquired affinity.
Most of us would like to consider Heimat as our
motherland—related to our political rights, mother
tongue, traditions, geographical boundaries and our
country of origin. But this definition of Heimat
gradually changed for me, since my arrival in Germany
as a student 38 years back. At that point, I had left
India—which was not only my country of origin, but
also the country where I had all my friends, family,
language, right of citizenship, a trusted world, and a
part of myself without knowing it. Over the course of
time I have adopted various social and cultural habits
which have nothing to do with my country of origin.
Yes—if I ask myself what is left over? The answer is—
my religion, emotion, memories and identity of being
an Indian. Now, I have a new national identity/
passport—lost my Indian identity but my physiognomy
will always make me identifiable as an Indian. That
said and done, Bharat Mata is and shall always remain
in my heart, as my motherland, my country of birth
and mother tongue.
Heimat is where one lives and feels secure, where one
eventually integrates and finds friends and family. It is
where one learns to live in a cultural potpourri. One
has to learn to live in the moment, and not always in a
bubble of the past or the future. After living in

Author‘s mother
25

Interview

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Switzerland longer than in India, I do personally feel
much closer to Switzerland. However, if I had to place
my hand on my heart and ask myself where truly lies
my Heimat, my answer would be “BOTH”.

While waiting at the airport, I observed two policemen
walking towards me. I suddenly panicked and my heart
started beating faster. I had a student visa with a letter
of admission and a stipend from the University of
Stuttgart in my pocket, but my personal experience of
police was so negative that I almost started shaking.
They came to me and asked me if they could help me. I
felt relieved and gave them the telephone number I was
carrying in my pocket. I also gave them the address
where I wanted to go. All three went to the reception
desk and one of the policemen asked the lady behind
the table to connect to the number I had given.

Quite typically, we always feel that the other side of the
river is greener! Whenever I go to India, after just
couple of days I start feeling homesick and during my
journey back, while sitting in the Swiss or Lufthansa
flight I get the feeling of coming back home to a trusted
place. Whenever I listen to my favorite country song
“country roads take me home” or “Ganga amar ma
Padma amar ma” I feel equally homesick. Despite these
contradictions, and feelings for both countries, I would
still perhaps rank Switzerland first, as my Heimat, since
this is the place where I have settled down with my
family and friends.

The number started ringing, ringing and ringing and
after almost five long minutes someone picked up the
phone and I almost shouted out of exasperation and
relief “Ueli-Ueli”! Thankfully it was Ueli and he asked
me where I was at present. Ueli and his friends were
just about to leave for the weekend and the motor of his
car was still running when he re-entered his house to
pick up his camera, which he had forgotten to take.
What luck! Or should I call it telepathy?

My first ‘Bidesh Jatra’ (foreign trip)
I remember the day when I first arrived in Stuttgart
airport. The airport was very small with only one kiosk.
I was expecting my German friend to receive me at the
airport. After coming out of the flight, within ten
minutes the airport was empty and there was nobody to
pick me up. Earlier, I had sent a telex, the only secured
communication method available from Kolkata GPO to
ensure that my friend Ueli would be informed about

In those times, Govt. of India used to give students only
$24 per person at the airport in Delhi before leaving
India and that was my entire asset. I would have not
been able to take a taxi even to arrive at any given
address. I was relieved that they agreed to come and
pick me up from the airport. And thus started my life in
the western world.
My Observations
Within the course of time I shifted from Germany to
Switzerland and after my long stay in Switzerland, my
observations are the following: the Swiss are kind,
polite, display no show off, and are hard working.
‘Time’ is an important aspect in their life style. What I
like most and find it important to mention is their
cleanliness, innovation, precise working style and
attitude of being open to a dialogue.
We Indians sometimes have a problem, often I meet
people saying “no problem - sir”! even if there is a big
problem staring at you. Well, I would say, never feel shy
to say, “It is a problem, let’s see how we can fix this”.
We often are not rational in our judgements and are
prone to emotional biases. Another trend is to live in
the past and be proud of the glory of the past, instead
of focusing on present and future glories. But, despite
all these factors, Indians are also the most patient,
accommodating, intellectually and spiritually advanced
people. With faults and praises, this is how I embrace
my ‘Heimat’, a potpourri of countries and emotions.

my arrival in Stuttgart.
I was left alone; a young man of mid-twenties who had
never had any exposure to a foreign country before. I
am talking of those times, when most of the school
boys’ and girls’ winter time excursions started from
home and ended with a visit to the airport, standing
behind glass panes or in a terrace and watch a white
plane landing or taking off. In one leap, I had now not
only jumped into the plane but also had travelled to a
faraway land.

“Expatriate” means someone “living in a foreign land”. “Immigrant” means “a person who comes to
a country to take permanent residence”.
“Home is where you feel at home and are treated well.” – Dalai Lama
“The simplest questions are the most profound. Where were you born? Where is your home? Where are
you going? What are you doing? Think about these once in a while and watch your answers change.” –
Richard Bach
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SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

27

Interview

Dr. Indranil Banerjee

After

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015
On behalf of Swisspuja family, we would
like to congratulate Dr. Banerjee on his
recent discovery and are happy to have
him with us for this interview. Last year
Dr. Banerjee published his work on the
molecular mechanism of influenza virus
infection in the journal ‘Science’, one of
the most acclaimed scientific journals.
His work is considered to have opened
up a new horizon in the field of medicine
to combat this deadly virus. He has been
selected for the Pfizer Research Award
2016, one of the most prestigious
awards in biomedical research in
Europe, for his work on influenza virus.
Contact: indranil_iitk@yahoo.com

Photo: Influenza Virus 3D

pursue big ideas, and provide them with the guidance
necessary to achieve scientific excellence. Switzerland is
one of the countries with the best endowed institutes of
the world, and therefore, attracts the brightest minds
from all over the world, including India. To catapult
India into one of the top scientific nations, the country
needs to attract fresh, bright minds. I think that the
talented young scientists who are now returning to
India have immense potential to transform our country
into a place for scientific excellence.

your M.Tech in IIT Kanpur,

India, how and when did you arrive in Zurich
for your PhD?
Well, the general trend of the IIT students is to move to
the US for higher studies or jobs. But I was more keen
to come to Europe for my PhD as I wanted to avoid the
rigorous course works that grad students in the US
essentially have to go through – I had had enough of
academic grilling by then! I really wanted to get started
with the bench work rather than being all ears again to
classroom lectures and devour midnight snacks while
struggling with assignments. When I expressed my
desire to move to Switzerland to my friends and
professors, many wondered if I was talking about my
future career, or planning my honeymoon! A few of
them even asked me to send pictures of the DDLJ
(Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge) shooting locations once I
arrived in Switzerland! Anyway, I left for the ‘paradise
on earth’ in the fall of 2007, and was greeted with a big
‘Gruezi’ for the first time in my life at the Zurich airport
passport control.

Tell us a bit about your research and how it will
affect society?
During my doctoral studies, I became interested to
work on the mechanism of influenza infection.
Influenza virus represents a worldwide threat to public
health by causing severe morbidity and mortality every
year. Being a master manipulator, this virus frequently
changes its properties, and thereby, becomes easily
resistant to the available drugs directed againts them. In
severe cases, doctors are often left with no choice, but to
witness their patients dying practically without any
effective treatment. Due to high mutation rate of the
virus, seasonal vaccination often turn out to be
ineffective as it fails to provide adequate protection
against infection. To circumvent this problem, I,
together with my colleagues, took another approach to
supress flu infection – instead of further vaccine
development or drug designing against this highly
mutable virus, we searched for the ‘traitor genes’ within
our own body that help the virus tresspass our organs
and spread infection. When we blocked the activity of
those traitor genes, the flu virus failed to invade the
cells, but still the cells could function normally. Since
human genes are very stable in terms of mutability, we
are now trying to use these traitor genes as our drug
targets as opposed to the currently available therapy.
We hope, if ultimately successful, our proposed therapy
will hold great promise for the future therapy, reducing
mortality and alleviating human sufferings from
influenza infection. Encouragingly, based on our
published work, the Swiss government has sanctioned
several millions of Francs to different labs in
Switzerland to follow up on our work, and to develop
novel therapies.

How do you feel Indian students are faring as
researchers in Switzerland? After their PhD
and PostDocs do they return to India or stay
back and why? What makes Switzerland a
favourite destination for researchers compared
to India?
Most of the Indians are doing fantastic research in
Switzerland, and many of them get their work
published in high-impact scientific journals. I think the
decision on returning to India is very subjective, and
depends on many factors such as family needs, research
infrastructure, funding opportunities, salary etc. Despite
having one of the biggest repertoires of talents, Indian
science suffers to a great extent from government
apathy for R&D and scant funds for basic research;
only a handful of institutes like IISc, IITs, TIFR etc.
can afford to conduct cutting edge research,
comparable to international standards. Science in India
is also hamstrung by socio-cultural issues such as herd
mentality, bureaucracy, personal ego and complacence,
and the lack of willingness to hit something big and
novel. A fundamental difference in the attitude of
Indian scientists working in India and abroad is their
appetite for big problems. A majority of the academic
mentors in India are too busy with political and
personal issues to passionately motivate students to

Are there any notable scientific breakthroughs
in the last few years from Switzerland?
Quite a few, for sure! Of course, the most dazzling one
was the recent detection of the Higgs-Boson particle,
popularly known as the ‘God particle’ at CERN,
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SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015
Geneva. Richard Ernst of ETH Zurich was pioneer in
developing NMR techniques, which underpin
applications to MRI, a routinely used technique for
medical diagnosis. Kurt Wuthrich, also of ETH,
further contributed to the development of NMR for
studying biological macromolecules. Both of them were
awarded the Nobel Prize in the recent past. Many labs
in Switzerland are actively involved in the Human
Brain Project, one of the biggest projects of recent
times. The Human Brain Project aims to understand
the human brain, build revolutionary computing
technologies and develop new treatments for brain
disorders. Individual research groups in Switzerland are
also doing fantastic jobs in every branch of science and
technology.

Interview

movements/transfers. Even the Nobel laureates cannot
hold their scientific positions after a certain length of
time! With all due respect to the Swiss system I strongly
feel, if the government wants to build a truly
international scientific platform, it has to become a
little less Swiss!
After staying in Switzerland for almost 8 years,
would you identify yourself first as a scientist,
or an Indian, or a Swiss?
I really don’t know if I qualify as a true scientist. But, I
am an Indian who loves fondue, raclette, barbecued
meat, gluhwein, and who now does not hesitate to blow
his nose in public!
Tell us what motivates you in your life beyond
science and few words of advice for Indian
researchers in Switzerland
Any form of art, be it photography, music, movie,
novel, and traveling, keep me alive and motivated. But
the biggest source of my motivation is my family,
without whom my existence would be meaningless.

Have you faced any domicile related problems
in Switzerland (Permits, Visas during travels),
which you feel Swiss Government could
improve for researchers from foreign
countries?
Not anything in particular that I can remember of. I
think, to attract foreign researchers, Swiss Government
could open up with their communication in English, be
it verbal or written. Scientific communities are
extremely mobile to garner fresh knowledge and
acquire new skills. This very characteristic of scientists
is the key to innovation. Therefore, one cannot expect
that foreign researchers would come to Switzerland,
master a new language overnight, and readily integrate
into the Swiss society for a long-term stay. In most
cases, scientific positions in Switzerland are temporary,
and the government funding agencies encourage

I believe, all Indian scientists working in Switzerland
are extremely gifted, and they don’t need any advice
from me to keep themselves motivated for great
science. They are already source of inspiration for
millions of young students in India, who aspire to excel
in scientific research. Personally, I feel very much
motivated by the famous inspirational quote from the
movie ‘3 Idiots’, “Kabil bano, kabil...kamyabi toh jhak maarke
peeche bhagegi“! (translated: make yourself worthy first,
success will come by itself).

Brindarica Bose
Mum of two boys, working as Publications
Manager for last 10 years, she conducts art
workshops and loves writing in her free
time. She believes life should be beyond the
mundane. Contact: brindarica@gmail.com

In the last couple of decades, family’s size has also
shrunk. In Switzerland, if you are planning for a child,
and if both parents are working, you need to reserve a
place in a creche, as soon as you break the ‘good
news’—demand being much higher than supply.
With grandparents and families accessible mainly via
skype these days, children who are born here, grow up
around their parents, and if both parents are working,
mainly around other kids and professional care takers
in creches. Infact, after day 5 (after giving birth), both
mother and child are sent home from the hospital and
from that point on you are literally on your own. A
couple becomes parents overnight—responsible for
their child’s safety, health and happiness, as well as
their own physical and psychological well-being. So, do
we have any time left, to consciously think about
‘Parenting’?

Introduction

What does ‘Parenting’ exactly mean? Is it something
that our parents’ talked about when they were bringing
us up or is this, a fad of our modern generation? Do
children grow up into responsible and caring human
beings, irrespective of parenting styles and pairs of
hands taking care of them or do you think Goddess
Durga, literally needed her ten hands—one pair, for
each child?

Talking from my own experience, I feel happy if I can
provide two fresh meals and can take care of my
children’s daily routines and put them to bed on time.
That itself is so exhausting, especially when you are the
cook, cleaner, office goer and mother that there is no
time left to think about anything else. Fathers also
barely have any time and yet try to do their best,
spending time with their kids in the evening before
bed-time, and on weekends, working full time as soccer
dads or chauffeuring the family to some destination.

Let’s find out the definition of ‘Parenting’ first.
Wikepedia defines it as: “Parenting (or child rearing) is the
process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional,
social, financial, and intellectual development of a child from
infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the aspects of raising a
child aside from the biological relationship.”
I had heard from my grandmother about the word
‘Aantur-ghor’ (birthing room). It used to be a corner
room inside the house where mothers gave birth,
helped by mid-wives or neighbours using tools like
sharpened bamboo sticks to cut the umbilical cord to
avoid infection. Some children survived, some didn’t.
Some made it to college and got jobs, some didn’t. In
those days, children grew up without parents fussing
over them; competition was also not break neck, nor
was life so stressful. There were also plenty of ‘pseudoparents’ taking care of children - uncles, aunts, older
siblings or neighbours. Parenting was done by all, not
just by parents. With time, this concept has changed.
When my turn came as an expat to enter the so called,
‘Aantur-ghor’, it was in a public hospital in Switzerland,
where both my sons were born—over a gap of four
years, and my husband had to cut the umbilical cord
for both, using sophisticated scissors—what a change
from my grandmother’s time!

And yet, I often stop on my tracks and think, are we
doing it right? Many parents feel the same and wonder
how other parents are coping. How do they nurture
intelligent and socially responsible human beings? And
should a couple’s life revolve entirely around raising
their children? Well, here is a point of view, from
Danielle Teller, a physician, who wrote in ‘quartz’ the
following:
“There are doubtless benefits that come from elevating parenthood
to the status of a religion, but there are obvious pitfalls as well.
Parents who do not feel free to express their feelings honestly are
less likely to resolve problems at home. Children who are raised to
believe that they are the center of the universe have a tough time
when their special status erodes as they approach adulthood. Most
troubling of all, couples who live entirely child-centric lives can
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Survey

drawing, reading, games on the ipad, playdates…Mum
is the chauffeur, teacher, friend, philosopher and guide
just like my mum was to me. His Dad also makes an
extra effort to spend time with him in the evenings after
work or on weekends and holidays and be a role model.

lose touch with one another to the point where they have nothing
left to say to one another when the kids leave home.”
While researching on the topic ‘Parenting’, I also
interviewed a Swiss lady, who has four children (they
are all grown up now), and additionally took care of
two foster children. Currently she is working as a school
teacher and is a politician and an active grandmother. I
asked her to share few tips on this topic for our readers.
She smiled and said the following:

How do you nurture your child’s creativity?

“Each child is different, so there is no ‘golden rule’ for parenting,
but the main thing that parents could perhaps give to their child is
‘unconditional love’. When a child feels loved only then can he or
she grow up into a beautiful and secure person. To give that solid
platform of love during their childhood is perhaps the main task
of ‘parenting’.”
That said and done, let’s hear what our five parents
selected for this Survey have to say on this topic.
Respondents are mothers and have children in different
age groups (from 4 to 40 years). They were each given
seven questions and were asked to reply independently.
This Survey is followed by an interesting essay by
another mother, who has thrown some light on the
practical issues faced by working parents today.

We always take a great interest in whatever he is
producing…a small collection of stones, a little bird’s
nest, colourful squiggles on a page. From the time he
could hold things, I have given him large sheets of
paper and pots of poster colours and big brushes to let
him loose with colours. Those were then put up on the
walls of his room and his Dad and I would admire
them. A set of such squiggles I have also printed as a
mini book. All birthday cards for his friends and
Christmas cards are handmade by him from coloured
card paper and decorated with gorgeous beads (from
India), Washi sticky tape, stickers and paints. I take
photos of these for us to admire later. Skype and
FaceTime have made sharing so much easier so his
various grandparents also get to ‘ooh-aah’ over his
artwork which chuffs him up no end. Since he started
school, we give him additional inputs at home on his
school projects e.g. in Montessori (age 4.5) he was
studying countries and flags, so we would discuss at
home, bought him a flag sticker book and we also
taught him about the states in India and the Kantons of
Switzerland. After that, on his first day in a new school
he made a flag of a Swiss Kanton from Lego and asked
his teacher whether she knew which Kanton it
belonged to! Currently the focus in his class is on
writing stories and developing imagination and we have
set up a parallel system at home. Expression of
creativity also comes from the confidence to express
oneself and that is what we try to nurture in him.

Chandana Mittra Sen
A mother, a dreamer, a traveler. In a
previous avatar, a 24x7 stressed out
Manager. Who jumped off the wheel to live
a different life. After many twists and turns
landed in Switzerland in 2008 and in
Langnau am Albis since 2011.
Contact: chandana_msen@yahoo.co.uk

Tell us something about yourself and your
child?

We are a small family of three. Neel, my son is 6 years
old, and goes to the Kindergarten. I work—as a Home
Manager and I take that role very seriously. Having
been a 24x7 workaholic for 12 years in the frenetic
advertising industry in Mumbai/Kolkata, I find the
role of Home Manager in Switzerland satisfying and
exasperating in equal measure! Due to the limited
external support here, I have chosen to be a HM as I
believe my child, at this stage of his life, has a greater
right to my time than I do. He loves sports – he has
regular classes in tennis, swimming, karate and skiing
in winter. He also loves cooking, cycling, Lego,

What are the difficulties of bringing up child in
Switzerland compared to India?
There is a saying ‘It takes a whole village to bring up a
child’ i.e. living in a community builds different aspects
of a child’s character. I miss that feeling of being a part
of a large community. However, as we make more
friends, Indian or otherwise, as we get more connected
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with our families thanks to technology, I feel less
isolated. On the whole I think my son is privileged to be
living in one of the safest countries in the world with
equal focus on developing the mind and the body.

Any tips for parenting from your own
experience?
Go with your gut feel, talk to other parents if you have
questions or concerns and definitely definitely junk the
self-help parenting books!

What are the steps that you take to ensure that
your child understands and appreciates Indian
culture and values?
Being a probasi, kind of runs in my blood, having
grown up across India I learned to appreciate different
Indian regional cultures. Similarly Neel, growing up in
Switzerland, is exposed to many International and
Indian cultures. Thanks to meeting other Bengali kids
through Swisspuja and regular visits to his extended
family in India and the UK, he also understands and
appreciates what it means to be a Bengali. In 2013, the
first year that Durga Puja was celebrated in Langnau
am Albis, Neel spent a lot of time at the venue as we
live in the village. He was really amazed to see so many
people specially kids, speaking Bengali. His question to
me after that was ‘Mum, why can’t I speak Bengali?’
Thank you Swisspuja ☺ Although he still struggles with
Bengali, he does not have a resistance anymore. His
favourite song at the moment is ‘Shing nei tobu naam
tar shingho’ which he took to school on a CD, danced
to it and got the other kids dancing to it too☺ His
teacher said she had never seen anything like this. My
next plan is to take him for Dandiya this year as he
loves dancing…and I brought Dandiya sticks from
Mumbai to teach him a few steps beforehand.

Rejina Sadhu
Born in Mumbai, she did her PhD in
Neurobiology. Living in Basel since 2001;
she pursues her love for baking, cooking and
music parallel to her full time career.
Contact: rejina.ramachandran@gmail.com

Tell us something about yourself and your
kids?

How do you integrate with the Swiss? What
activities does your child do to integrate with
the Swiss children?

We (my husband and I) are working parents with a 7
year old daughter and a 4 year old son. Both of us
came to Switzerland 14 years back in pursuit of our
PhDs and stayed on after gaining employment in the
pharmaceutical sector. Both of us are into books,
music, art and antiques. Our diverse cultural
backgrounds (Bengal and Kerala) plus our exposure to
a melting pot of diverse lifestyles encouraged us to
provide something similar and may be better for our
children. Our daughter is very artistic and extremely
curious about the ‘why and what for’ for anything and
everything, and basic rudimentary explanations do not
suffice for her. Our son has a natural penchant for
fantasies, mythological tales and likes to try out tongue
twisting words for now. Both are into music and freestyle playing.

We try to integrate with our neighbours and so Neel too
is quite chatty with them. He loves to shout out a Hallo
or a Grüezi from our patio to passing neighbours. He
also meets Swiss kids through his non-school sporting
activities. Strange how kids understand one another
even though one speaks Schweizerdeutsch and the
other one English ☺
How many hours do you (or your spouse) spend
everyday with your child? What do you feel is
more important: quality or quantity of time
and why?
Neel spends most of his non-school time with me. His
father always makes an effort to spend time with him
often leaving early for work so that he can get back
early to play football or take him bicycling. Quality time
is of course important but sometimes it is just enough
for my son to know that Mum is at hand if he needs
me. I am lucky to be in a position to be there most of
the time. As he grows older he will need less of my
time, but whenever he does, it will be quality time.

How do you nurture your children’s creativity?
My husband nurtures my daughter’s interest in art by
taking her to art museums and exhibitions, and
explaining to her the different styles and stories behind
these. Being a green thumb himself, he also involves
them in growing plants, identifying them and teaching
them how to preserve flowers. Both my kids (especially
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Survey

How do you integrate with the Swiss? Activities
that your children do to integrate with the
Swiss children?
After having children, our interactions with the locale
increased. Our kids go to public school and day care
systems, and we participate in neighbourhood events at
the Freizeithaus and the residential campus we live in.
Our daughter joins in musical and sports activities put
forth by our Gemeinde. We are building friendships
with our kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; classmates and our neighbours of
different age groups.
How many hours do you (or your spouse)
spend every day with your children? What do
you feel is more important: quality or quantity
of time and why?

my daughter) love baking. I involve them in all my
kitchen adjourns and give them tiny tasks. I explain
every step as we create the finished product. Both
respond favourably if their tiny projects bear fruit. We
are hoping to boost their imagination by urging them
to play make-believe games and by building things
from readily available household things and by foraging
the natural environment around.

Explaining what we do and why we do it as we hurtle
through our day seems to help our kids understand the
rationale behind most everyday processes. Early
morning 5 minute cuddles before starting the day,
exchanging our daily activities as we walk home
together, half an hour of study time while preparing
dinner and wrapping up our day with singing and/ or
narrating stories for 15-20 minutes before they go to
bed is our way of trying to be in sync with our little
ones. As working parents the maximum time we get is
during weekends where we take them to most activities
we indulge in and we try to accompany them to their
choice of activities too.

What are the difficulties of bringing up
children in Switzerland compared to India?
Compared to other Swiss cities growing up in Basel
particularly limits the options of teaching Indian
cultural/traditional facets and fine arts in a group
setting. The options to expose them to Indian
celebrations/festivities in a larger setting are also
minimal in Basel. The basic values of humanity are
similar across all cultures but each of us has our own
cultural identity because of our individual upbringing.
Giving this to our kids in an alien setting does bring up
challenges. It is difficult for them to understand that the
values and behaviours requested by their parents is not
the norm around them, and are considered as default
in a country thousands of miles away. Maintaining
harmony becomes a balancing act.

Any tips for parenting from your own
experience?
Parenting is a learning experience. It is like being in an
experimental movie with an unknown script. We try to
improvise as we move forward. We need to accept the
fact that we can only try to give our kids different
opportunities but what they use it for is their part in this
unfolding story.

What are the steps that you take to ensure that
your children understand and appreciate
Indian culture and values?

Riti Mukherjee
Studied and grew up in Kolkata, lived in
Switzerland for 12 years and in
Connecticut, USA for 2 years. Sole
Proprietor of a Language School in
Baden. Dancer and Choreographer and
an occasional writer. Contact:
828isu@gmail.com

The Swiss Puja family has given us the opportunity to
foster the family feeling in a big way. A heartfelt thank
you to everyone! Moreover, as parents we try to
celebrate all the major Indian festivals and pujas at
home with our close friends as much as possible. We
explain why we celebrate these, narrate stories from
Indian mythology and reiterate these by using
animated videos on â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;YouTubeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; or through the Amar
Chita Katha series. Elements of Indian hospitality
through respectful gestures, food and speech are also
explained as much as possible. We restate these when
we go to India and encourage them to build and
strengthen their relationships with family members and
friends in India too.

Tell us something about yourself and your
kids?
A wife, mother and daughter and a
Professionally a Financial and English teacher
owner of a Language School in Baden AG.
Year old daughter is presently studying
33

friend.
and the
Our 17
at the

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SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015
clearly and will immediately connect to your ideas.
Standing up to our National Anthem with genuine
pride in our hearts will make our children see India
through our eyes and hearts. It is up to us if we want to
see and show poverty, rapes, ruthless crime and
corruption or innovation, control of mind, heritage and
history, respect and family ties. Not that I mean to hide
one and highlight the other but I would never degrade
and disgust my roots individually, as a family or in front
of anyone –let alone my own children !
How do you integrate with the Swiss? What
activities does your child do to integrate with
the Swiss children?
By being myself. I have very close Swiss, French and of
course my Indian friends and I have made these
friendships naturally and effortlessly. Friendships need a
match of thoughts and wavelengths, and not the same
skin color nor country. Long lasting friendships are built
by enjoying each other’s company and sharing each
other’s sorrows, by taking steps together and by trying
not to be faster or wittier than the other—be it in any
culture.

Kantonschule – Year 3, and our 10 year old son in the
Primarschule Klasse 4. Living in Switzerland since
2000 where we both flew together to start out first
adventure on foreign land with a 2 year move to
America in between.
Our daughter has an independent outlined life drawn
by academics, friends, instruments, advanced ballet,
gymnastics, track and field and deadlines to meet. Our
son has his outlined by school, homework, football,
karate, Stv, and lots of outdoor playing. Both are
apparent achievers and non-apparent acheivers by
winning confidently and losing humbly..

Community playing, small group walks, integration
with neighborhood families, speaking the language and
last but not the least loving yourself for what you are
promotes integration.
How many hours do you (or your spouse) spend
everyday with your children? What do you feel
is more important: quality or quantity of time
and why?

How do you nurture your children’s creativity?
To be with them when they create in their formative
years, by supplying the necessary tangible and
intangible materials; by appreciating and respecting
each creation by giving them a place in our home.
Filing them and preserving them. I have never had to
motivate them differently but neither have I tried to
teach creation to them or instill the talent that I have
within me.

Currently we are both working. I have however taken
breaks and purposely cut down on pressures when I felt
the need to do so in previous years. I was clear about
my career moves and the time I would give to it—
whether this time was enough to steer me to the top or
not wasn’t important. We function as spheres with clear
cut areas as parents. I am the mother and never try to
be the father and our ‘baba’ is the father and doesn’t try
to enter my maternal space–so the children are clear
about the two pages that make their book. (I salute
parents who are single and play both the roles
singlehandedly). As our children grew, so did their
circles and they had lesser time to spend with us but
spending 5 minutes hugging your child before they
sleep, eating together at weekends, unshared holidays
just the four of us, overweigh the 12 hours that we all
spend in our own fields.

What are the difficulties of bringing up
children in Switzerland compared to India?
Not that we have it more difficult than our parents nor
that our children will have it easier! Just like any other
species, we as parents and children must adapt to our
environment. Switzerland or India does not define
upbringing of a child- the home does. Yes, the system of
each country might define some add-ons and minuses,
some yeses and nos, some smooth roads, some bumpy,
but never the basis of rearing a child.
What are the steps that you take to ensure that
your child understands and appreciates Indian
culture and values?

Any tips for parenting from your own
experience?
Respect your children, their likes, dislikes, fears and
confidences. Let them speak. Only then will they let you
speak. Listen to them and they will listen to you. Guide

I genuinely appreciate the values myself. Children
understand pretence and sincerity in parents very
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SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Survey

I lived my childhood again, by observing the world
through my son’s eyes. We did a lot of things together
—like making flowers, boxes, candles, cards and before
Christmas, we both used to love decorating the
Christmas tree together.

them (sometimes harshly and firmly and sometimes
calmly and confidently) when they deviate, lift them
when they fall, laugh and cry with your teenager and
don’t forget to hold them, hug them and praise them
when they deserve it. Show them that family is a team
where we all have responsibilities, and is not a game of
give and take nor is it of strength and weaknesses.

What are the difficulties of bringing up
children in Switzerland compared to India?

Being a parent is a treasure but we have the right to feel
tired, to do things for ourselves and ask for help from
our children just like they do. We can only guide them
into the future but can’t chalk it out.

I left India in 1992, so it is difficult for me to make a
comparison between the education systems in India
and Switzerland. I know that education in India has
become very expensive nowadays. It is no longer a
country for people like
Vidyasagar, who studied in
the street light and achieved
his goal. Here, in
Switzerland, education is
compulsory for everyone
till class VIII. Most of the
children go to local schools
run by the municipality.
There are private schools as
well, but there is little or no
dif ference between the
standard of a public or a private school. So far, we
have paid no tuition fees for our son, and his expenses
for education have been paid by the government till
now. Schools are also equipped with canteens which
provide food at a nominal price. We had to pay very
nominal amount for his books and accessories, during
his school days.

Dipanjana Ghosh
Born in Kolkata, residing in Switzerland with
husband and son since last 20 years. She loves
reading books and writing, and would rather
call herself an ordinary housewife. Contact:
deepanjana14@gmail.com

Tell us something about yourself and your son?
I was born and brought up in Kolkata (India) in an
ordinary middle class, well-educated family. While my
father died in harness, my mother tried her best to give
us proper education and support. I have a son, who was
born and brought up in Switzerland.
My son is now 20 years old and is studying
Computational Science in ETH. His favourite subject
is Mathematics and he has received several awards in
Maths, the last one was from the Mathematical Society
of Switzerland in 2014. He loves to play the piano and
is also an active member of Wettingen Badminton
Club.

What were the steps that you took (when your
child was growing up) to ensure that your child
understood and appreciated Indian culture
and values?

How did you nurture your child’s creativity
when he was younger?

We were members of the Indian Association Baden
where my son used to participate in several events.
Simultaneously, he also met Santa Claus and sang for
him and received a gift. This was even before his
Kindergarten days. When he was nine, we, had our
first Durga Puja in Zurich. He was overjoyed when he
was allowed to play the Dhak (Drum) with two sticks.
Since then he has been enjoying the Puja days with his
friends and extended family members in Switzerland.

My husband used to travel a lot for his work in those
days and wherever he went, he used to bring back
Lady-Bird books for our son. He used to read them
with my son, mostly in the evenings, when he was at
home. My mother, who was also a regular visitor in
those days, used to bring books of puzzles, simple
mathematics, etc. for my son from India. We did not
take any extra care to educate him. His Kindergarten
teacher repeatedly told us not to teach him anything
and to speak to him only in our mother-tongue. In
Switzerland this is a common advice given to parents of
young children. Parents are asked to speak to their
children only in their mother-tongue, i.e. maintain one
language of communication per parent, which makes
the foundation strong. Later, the child can pick up any
other language much faster.

How did you integrate with the Swiss? What
activities did your child do to integrate with
the Swiss children?
The first year in kindergarten was an observation phase
for him as he could neither speak nor understand Swiss
German. He picked up the language very fast and
became fluent in Mundart in his second class. His
classmates were all from the locality and we knew each
other quite well. We used call the next phase as an
“abmachen” phase (which is, fixing a date for playing
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table tennis and skiing. „ Jass“ is a Swiss card game
which one of my sons plays till date with his Swiss
friends. When they were young, all of them learned
how to play an instrument (flute, trumpet, violin and
piano) for several years. Travelling to different countries
also used to be their favourite hobby.

together or spending time
together). Either his friends
came to our home to play or
vice versa.
In India, the role of a
guardian is very important.
Here, children are allowed to
decide many things on their
own. The idea is to bring
them up as independent
individuals, which I really
appreciate.

How did you nurture your child’s creativity
when he was younger?
Most of the time, I let them play at home or in the
p l a yg ro u n d w i t h o t h e r c h i l d r e n f ro m o u r
neighbourhood. They also used to spend time in a
nearby farm, where they helped the farmer feed their
animals and learn how to make hay and other fodder.
That way they learned a lot about flora and fauna.
During winter, when we had to spend more time
indoors, I often kept them engaged with some kind of
handicraft activities, like painting or basteln. I also used
to take them to the local library regularly. They started
reading books and newspapers very early. I kept an eye
on them to check whether or not they were reading
books suitable for their age, and always encouraged
them to read about various topics.

How many hours did you spend everyday with
your child? What do you feel is more
important: quality or quantity of time and
why? Any tips for other parents?
We always shared a close bond and spent quality time
together. I remember, when my son was much younger,
if he felt unwell; he used to snuggle close to me and ask
me to read from his favourite book ‘The Advertures of
Tintin’, till he would fall asleep. Now my son is grown
up, but our fascination for Tintin has not faded, this
year we went to Brussels, to meet Tintin and Captain
Haddock!

What are the difficulties of bringing up
children in Switzerland compared to India?
Back in those days, it was not at all easy for me to
manage a new born baby without any helping hand in
an unknown environment. For every step I had
hundreds of questions in my mind. But, slowly I started
planning and organizing things my way with the help of
the local „Mutterberatung“, our pediatrician and our
good Swiss neighbours. By the age of 2 my children
started speaking both languages (Bengali and Swiss
German) simultaneously. Outside, my children spoke
and did what other children were doing, but at home
they spoke Bengali and ate Indian food. Even now, after
becoming parents themselves, they still love to eat
Indian food and all of them talk to us in Bengali,
including our grandchildren, who have a Swiss mother.
Maintaining a healthy balance between Swiss and
Indian cultures was an important step for us.

Any tips on parenting from your own
experience?
There are no golden rules for good parenting. My only
wish is that my son grows up into a liberal, kind-hearted
and honest man. One should learn to appreciate both
cultures, and be a sympathetic and philanthropic
person.

Manjushree Roy
Born in Dhaka, soon after second World
War. Came to Kolkata at the age of two and
studied Chemistry in Kalyani University.
Came to Switzerland after marriage. Mother
and Grandmother, working professionally as
a translator.
Contact: arabmnju@hispeed.ch

What were the steps that you took (when they
were growing up) to ensure that your children
understood and appreciated Indian culture and
values?

Tell us something about yourself and your
children?
I arrived in Switzerland almost half a century back, the
first fifteen years I was a housewife, thereafter I started
working in a library and as a professional translator. We
have one daughter and two sons, they are all grown up
now (30-40 years old). All of them studied in Zürich.
Our daughter is a Psychologist practising in Zürich,
Baden and Olten. Our elder son is a Doctor (general
physician) with his private practice in Tann and our
youngest son is an Economist, working in a bank in
Zürich. Their hobbies included football, rowing, aikido,

We actually took no special step to teach them about
our culture or values. We behaved with them the way
our parents did with us. They visited India several
times, for five weeks at a stretch sometimes, and stayed
with our relatives (joint family). I think they learned and
understood the nuances of Indian culture and values
during those long stays in India. I remember, once we
were in Kolkata during Durga Puja, with our children.
They enjoyed the festival with our relatives and those
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SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015
are the memories they cherish even now. Since last 40
years we have been celebrating „Bhaifota“ every year
without fail, on the same day as Bengalis do in West
Bengal. Brothers have a lot of fun during the „Fota“
ceremony especially when their sister recites the
Bengali verse, ‘Ditiyaye diya phota, tritiyaye diya nita, Jamuna
deye jom ke phota, ami di amar bhai ke phota, ajobdi amar
bhaiyer jomduyarer kanta’, followed by a sumptuous
Bengali dinner.

Survey

whom we shared a good rapport. They were interested
in Indian culture and joined us in Indian festivals like
the ‘Inderball’ and other cultural programmes. We
became friends, and they helped us solve problems that
we faced in our day to day lives. We are still in touch
with these friends. Our children played with other
children (Swiss as well as migrants) and learned to
integrate with all sorts of people.
How many hours did you spend everyday with
your children? What do you feel is more
important: quality or quantity of time and
why? Any tips for other parents?
I never counted how many hours I spent with my
children. All I know is that, I was always available for
them whenever they needed me. What was fixed is that
they had to go to bed at 7.30 P.M., to be fit and ready
for next day.
Any tips for parenting from your own
experience for others?

How did you integrate with the Swiss?
Activities that your children did to integrate
with Swiss children?

Let the child be a child: which means your child should
not just be groomed for future but should also have a
chance to enjoy childhood with other children.

We were lucky to have local people (Zürcher) of our
age, living in the same block where we lived and with

37

Survey

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Twirl and turn, Scare and fun…
Kamalika Chakraborty
is an engineer and MBA by education,
Bharatnatyam dancer by training, an IT
professional by choice and a writer of
articles like this by chance. She can be
mostly spotted in the Zimmerberg region
inside an office or driving over the mountain
from or towards Lake Zürich, commuting
between her office and Ihita's school.
Contact: kamalika.ch@gmail.com

raise eyebrows on my working full time despite having a
four year old kid and smirk when I leave office at five.
On the other side are Ihita's school teachers who are
convinced that I enroll her in every possible extracurricular activity to maximize her time at school and
mine at work. To my office colleagues I am a
‘ravensmutter’, to Ihita’s school teachers I am an Asian
tiger mom.

So

But my travails don’t end there. Spontaneity and
impulsiveness, traits which defined me in the past, now
look like a distant dream. Every transaction of daily life
needs to be planned in advance. My preparation for the
next day starts the previous evening with deciding
Ihita's clothes and breakfast. Sounds easy, right? Not if
it has to be agreed with a four year old who has an
opinion about everything – "Why can't I wear a dress like
you do?" "I don't want to wear jeans every day!" "I don’t want to
have milk every morning!" "Can't I have chocolates instead?" —
are the kind of questions/arguments that I have to
tackle before we agree on anything. It is imperative for
a consensus to be reached the previous evening to
minimize chances of a tantrum (and resulting delays) in
the next morning’s rush. I am not successful all the time
but in my short life as a mum till now, I have realized
that all you can do is try.

, when are you having your second kid? Every time I

dodge this or similar questions with a straight face, my
emotional side screams in protest while the practical
side keeps me grounded.
It took us six years to change from DINK (Double
Income No Kid) to DISK (Double Income Single Kid)
status and I have strong reasons to keep it that way.
Don't get me wrong! Kudos to all the moms out there
who manage two or more kids with supreme efficiency
and utmost patience. And having a younger sibling
myself, I fully know the joy of having a younger one to
pamper and bully with equal passion.
However for me bringing up my one and only child in
Switzerland with a demanding full-time job is like a
daily roller coaster ride. And the roller coaster decides
its own course everyday giving me little time to adapt. I
try to tackle this daily ride with a mix of Indian
ingenuity and Swiss planning and precision but with an
intelligent, inquisitive and articulate child as Ihita, I
mostly end up screaming my lungs out. Silently of
course as I live in Switzerland! Almost everything
related to bringing up kids in this country is designed to
prevent both parents working at the same time.
Otherwise why have kids come home for lunch, finish
school by 15:30, have multiple school vacations in a
year ranging from two to eight weeks, and the list goes
on.

I would have never imagined that my wardrobe would
undergo a significant change after motherhood. All my
formal shirts, trousers and suits with matching shoes
and bags have become relics, replaced by clothes which
don’t need ironing, and on which dirt or stains do not
show easily. Heels have become shorter to aid last
minute running to catch the bus or the train and
colorful bags have given way to neutral-colored ones
which match with any attire. Still I try to cling on to my
fashion-diva days desperately by joining the High Heels
group.
Though I was always proud of my multitasking and
planning ability, it has now reached a sublime level.
Once Ihita was sick at home, her regular babysitter was

Between my office and Ihita’s school I have to maintain
a delicate balance. On one side I have colleagues who
38

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Survey

resources to search for camps that Ihita can attend for
the full day. My breaks in office are not really breaks as
I use them to search online or gather information from
colleagues on vacation programs and camps for kids.

away on maternity leave, Rajat was out of town and I
had a very important client presentation which I could
not reschedule. I persuaded a friend's babysitter to look
after her so that I could meet my professional
commitments. No sooner had I started my presentation
my iPhone started to flash and vibrate. Gritting my
teeth I silently offered prayers to all the Gods I could
remember to keep everything alright with Ihita, and
finished my speech. Drained from the mental pressure I
wearily sat down and keeping my fingers crossed read
the message from the babysitter. She just wanted to
confirm if it was fine for Ihita to play with the iPAD
because Ihita had claimed that “Mamma lets me play with
the iPAD all the time!” As my feelings and facial
expression changed from anxiousness to relief and then
to anger, I looked up to some curious faces of my
colleagues. I smiled sweetly at them as I tried to text my
answer to the babysitter hiding the phone under the
table while trying to contribute to the discussion
happening in the room.

In addition to everything, I have to undergo severe guilt
trips from Ihita on a constant basis – "Why can't you pick
me up after lunch, I miss you so much!" "Why can't I have a
play date in the afternoon at my house?" "Can you also become a
room Mom at my school?" My usual and simple answer to
all such questions "I can't sweetheart, I have to work" is
usually met with a counter reply "Why can you not work?"
As I pull Ihita in tight hug, my heart twists in sadness at
not being able to meet her expectations. How much
ever I rationalize my decision to work full time, the
feeling of guilt is difficult to escape from.
This piece will not be complete without the mention of
Ihita's "office uncle" who is an unseen but great help. For
Ihita, "office uncle" is my strict boss who gets very angry
if I am late to office or I am sad if Ihita misbehaves or
disobeys me. On the other hand, he is very happy when
Ihita is good and declares to everybody in office that
Ihita is the best girl, and occasionally sends her treats. I
use his help often to get my way around with her, be it
on sleepy mornings or tired evenings.

My work day does not end with leaving office. Since I
leave earlier I have to take calls from the train, on my
way to pick up Ihita. I am often found in front of Ihita’s
school, pacing back and forth, trying desperately to
finish the call so that I can pick her up on time. Quite
often, a few other working moms join me there in the
same situation and a silent bond is immediately formed
between us.

This is why my daily life is like a roller coaster ride with
many bumps and drops. And then there are the "highs"
e.g. when I receive appreciation and accolades at work
or when I overhear Ihita role playing and telling her
friend "I am Mamma and I go to office. You know, I have a
very important job, just like Mamma!" These are the
moments which makes me feel complete and
rejuvenates me to take on another day, another ride.

My recent nightmares are the school holidays. It's
ironic that in my childhood I used to look forward to
my school holidays and now I dread them. As the
vacation season comes near, I use all my energy and

Quotations and proverbs regarding parenting
"Your children need your presence more than your presents"
- Jesse Jackson
"Parents who are afraid to put their foot down usually have their children who step on their toes"
- Chinese proverb
" You are never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child."
- Dr. Seuss
"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."
- Frederick Douglass
"Every word, facial expression, gesture, or action on the part of a parent gives the child some message about selfworth. It is sad that so many parents don't realize what messages they are sending."
- Virginia Satir

39

by Dipankar Ghosh

by Anjana Rakshit

Painting
SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

40

Painting

by Amrita Ray

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

41

Painting

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

by Uma Debnath
lili -

id \

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.;,./
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-:- r; rg*

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(oaff'r/
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by Aniruddha Ghosh

by Tanmoy Pal

42

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

The Story of Durga
and Mahishashur
Namah
Agnidevaya
Namah

Sumana Roychoudhury: A mother of two young
kids living in Switzerland since 2007. She has a strong
penchant for painting and picks up the brush
whenever she finds time. She pursues her passion
through teaching painting enthusiasts. She has done
her masters in Arts in Kolkata. She also likes music
and performing arts.
Contact:Â sumanaroyc@yahoo.com

Namah
Varunaya
Namah

Indra: I will
not let anyone
takeover
Swargarajya

Narada:
Narayana
Narayana!!!

Agnideva
please
bestow me
immortality

Painting

Tathastu, you
will not die in
the hands of
any Devata or
Asura

43

Painting

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Such a beautiful
Mahishi. I am in
love with her.

I will not
allow you
to marry
my past
lover.

I am the
great King.

You are
immortal,
your soul will
inherit the
form of
your son

Lord
Bramha,
please grant
me immortality

Tathastu,
no Devata or
Asura can ever
kill you.

44

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

45

Painting

Experience

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Is your
glass half
full or half
empty?
It

Rupa Mukerji
Living in Switzerland since 2011 with husband and daughter, she
works with Helvetas as a member of its Management Board, the
first person from a developing country to do so in a major Swiss
non-profit. Contact: aprilrupa@gmail.com

While I recovered quite quickly from the surgery, the
metal implant was not adequate to help the four
fractures heal, even after 4 months. This led to a lot of
pain, which I accepted stoically but it worried the
physiotherapists and my family, eventually we went for
a second surgery in March. This time the healing is
better, and painless, and I hope to be fully recovered by
the coming Puja.

was Doshomi of Durga Puja, 2014. I had taken

the day off while my husband, Ram had some work
and daughter, Simran had a full day at school. I had
never participated in Doshomi celebrations and was
curious about the more feminine rituals that mark this
day. Thus, clad in a new sari I reached Gattikon and
getting down from the bus opposite the venue, started
to cross the road at the pedestrian crossing. I saw a
couple walking away and several people walking up the
street. The road was wide and empty. I crossed over to
the middle and looked to my right, still a nice traffic
free road, and started on the second half of the
crossing. As I reached the pavement, I noticed a black
car approaching and since I was already far down the
road, signalled it to stop, never imagining what would
happen next!

Lessons and Insights
One of the best pieces of advice we received was to
seek legal advice. There are specialised law firms that
help negotiate with insurance agencies. While my
employer’s accident insurance covers all costs of my
treatment linked to this accident now, and they assure
in perpetuity, claims are also admissible for aspects such
as household care, damaged property etc from the
perpetrator’s insurer. The basis for such claims is the
outcome of the legal action initiated by the state. In my
case since the accident was on a pedestrian crossing, the
state prosecuted the driver and that forms the basis for
settlement with the insurance firm. The cost of legal
advice is covered by any top up on the health insurance.
It’s important to seek legal advice as it smoothens
discussions with all parties, particularly where language
is a challenge.

The next thing I knew I was flat on the road with my
head cradled by a young woman, fluently, and
reassuringly, defending my actions to someone in
German! I opened my eyes to find several known faces
around me. I felt no pain but knew my leg was broken.
I started taking stock of what else could have been
damaged. My main thought was ‘I am so glad I was
alone and Simran is safe at school’. Someone called
Ram who arrived in time to accompany me in the
ambulance to Triemli hospital, Zurich. Several
diagnostic procedures followed and I was told I would
need an operation as I had multiple fractures in my
right shin. By night fall I was in a hospital room, after a
1.5 hr surgery.

After the first surgery, I was happy just to come home
and spend time with my family but after the second
one, I spent two weeks in a rehab facility. The
combination of therapies do contribute to an easier
recuperation and lesser stress on the family.
Life often throws us a curved ball. It is vitally important
to stay focussed on the most important thing, which is
to recover and heal oneself. While everyone around me
was really angry with the driver, I was just happy to be
alive, without any major damage. Seeing the glass half
full has helped me over the long period of healing,
physiotherapy, a second surgery where all the gains
made were lost and the subsequent, on-going, recovery.
Leave the anger to others, hire the best lawyers you
may need but stay focussed on healing.

The aftermath
The next morning the police officers who were at the
accident spot came to record my statement. Despite the
medication I have a lucid recall of the event, except the
moment of impact and a few moments thereafter. A
colleague of mine had had an accident and she had a
similar experience. The selective amnesia is the body’s
way of protecting us from the shock. The testimony of
the two eye witnesses really helped in the police enquiry
together with the fact that I was on a pedestrian
crossing and was hit from behind by the car.

The love and care of my colleagues helped me at each
step. There was never any work stress or pressure – I
was supported by positive messages, gifts, flowers and
46

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015
kindness at each step. We experienced the same
warmth from our new friends in Switzerland. Family,
and friends from as far back as my primary school days
encouraged and entertained me through the painful
days after the first surgery. Simran suddenly grew up
and became my responsible pair of hands, carefully
shepherding me around the house and later outside.

Experience

What can I say in conclusion? Life tests us all, for me
this became an opportunity to reconnect with my
family as I had led a busy professional career since
passing out of college. I had never suffered any serious
aliment – I learnt a lot from other colleagues who
endure chronic ailments, their support was immediate
and especially sympathetic. For several days after the
surgeries I just simply enjoyed being alive – looking out
of the window to admire the blue of the sky, the early
blossoms of spring, bird song and simple sounds of a
family home. It should never have happened, but it
could have been much worse – my glass is surely half
full.

But the biggest complement I pay to myself – I realise I
chose the best life partner in the world at the tender age
of 20! Ram has been a bulwark of quiet strength
during my hospital days, a cheerful companion during
the recuperation, a great chef conjuring all my
favourite food and someone who quietly took over the
entire management of our household and lives.

The Voyager
Sourav Ray
Sourav lives in Zurich and ends up working
in an office from dawn to dusk, even
though he is really just a dreamer at heart.
Contact: souravray82@gmail.com

T

he winds are getting stronger,
Taking a turn for the worse;
Some say it’s a fool’s sure fate –
An angry pirate’s curse!
I steer the wheel in desperation,
Call upon the Gods I know...
The boat threatens to release me
Into the murky depths below!
I fear that the ones I love
Will be lost to me forever,
And this journey ‘cross the open seas –
A futile endeavour.

I

’ve made it past the Bay of Sharks,
Stopped at the Golden Isles,
Where I rested and ate heartily
Amidst music, laughter, smiles.
But I’ve left all this behind –
Moved along these trails of danger,
To distant lands and lakes and valleys –
A foreigner and a stranger!
And now I have this final hurdle –
I must proceed and overcome;
But my eyes, they are so weary
And my hands and feet are numb!

A

midst my struggle, I think of home –
Where I belong, where I will settle...
And then, suddenly, out of nowhere,
I hear the electric kettle!
Was this escapade a dream?
Yes, I finally awaken,
And find myself still in a daze –
Out of sorts and shaken!
I slowly level with the Present...
But the Voyager isn't dead –
A part of me is still at sea,
Braving the storms ahead!

47

Experience

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

From Krishnanagar to Krakow –
A Business Traveler’s Diary
lacking the time to understand all this in depth I fall
back on clichés and some of them do prove to be
typical. Germans are precise and direct people who
love rules, and structure, are punctual, formal,
efficient, and disciplined and lack a sense of humor.
Italians are emotional, artistic, talented, expressive
people who gesture while speaking, have an excellent
sense of style and taste, and do not follow traffic rules.
It is fascinating how people on two sides of the Alps
could be so different and traveling extensively in these
and other countries I found the prevailing clichés to be
largely true. Consequently I take the liberty of joining
meetings late while in Italy and do not bother defining
or sticking to an agenda. In Germany I join meetings
on the dot, stick strictly to agenda and avoid referring
to people by their first name. In the US I start
meetings with mindless small talk, refer to people by
first name and try to keep things simple all along. In
Finland I speak in meetings without expecting any
response or feedback, a bit like driving in unknown
territory without any directions. And in Sweden I
know any meeting is just one of many to follow,
without me, to arrive at a consensus with everyone and
his grandmother. Similarly, now it is ingrained in me
that Dockers or white socks are frowned upon in the
offices at Italy while a suit is appreciated, and exactly
the opposite is true in the offices at US.

Rajat Bhattacharya is an itinerant,
introverted, insomniac information
technology professional with an inclination
towards things intellectual or intoxicating.
Contact: bhattacharya.rajat@gmail.com

I

was born in Krishnanagar on the tropic of cancer,

grew up in Ranchi not far from it, and spent my
holidays in Kolkata, the biggest and most happening
place I knew. In brief I spent the first seventeen years
in the vicinity of the tropic of cancer, had no concept
of summer and winter time, and had no clue that the
Espresso sold at Howrah and Ranchi railway stations
was actually a Cappucino. My exposure to places,
people and cultures foreign remained limited, mainly
through books and some Russian and Nigerian
schoolmates. The situation did not improve much
when I started working, I just moved to Bangalore i.e.
about half-way to the equator.
“It sounds so far away and different. I like different places. I like
any places that isn't here.”
Edna Ferber

“The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences,
and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly
changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun”,
Christopher McCandless

My joy knew no bounds on my first travel outside
India, to Switzerland. Awake the whole night on a
Swissair flight I kept looking out of the window all the
time literally seeing that I was travelling far. One
cannot but love Switzerland for its natural beauty, its
proud and peace loving people and the overall
efficiency underlying all aspects of life. This tiny
landlocked country with a population less than that of
Bangalore is very different from India in many ways
but on the diversity quotient it is quite similar. Just one
example to the point is four official languages in a
country of its size. Enamored I took a sabbatical to
study at a university ‘world famous in the German
speaking region’ followed by joining a company that
provides ample opportunities to quench my wanderlust
and whose abbreviated name was useful in starting
teaching alphabets to my daughter.
Business travel was fun in the initial days but over time
it became stressful. Dealing with different time zones,
travel fatigue, and trying to accomplish work objectives
while thinking of family and things left undone back
home took its toll. Nevertheless the opportunity to see,
feel and understand new places was always exciting.

No amount of clichés can prepare a business traveler
for new experiences and surprises that await him in
different lands. Landing at Stockholm one June
evening I was shocked entering a unisex restroom at
the airport absent-mindedly, and seeing two ladies in
front of the mirror till a gentleman came out of the
toilet booth. This was followed by driving a ten-seater
rental van as all rental cars had been taken for
midsummer related travel. Finally arriving at the hotel
around midnight I had to draw black curtains to keep
the sunlight out. Other surprises have included finding
a sauna at the office in Vaasa, that import and sale of
chewing gum is banned in Singapore, that offices in
Saudi Arabia are gender segregated, and that usual
dinner time at Memphis and Vaasa is between 5:30
and 6:00 P.M. After these and many other experiences
both surprising and shocking I still look forward to a
Saudi business traveler’s account of Sweden or vice
versa.

“The Yankees, the first mechanicians in the world, are engineers-just as the Italians are musicians and the Germans
metaphysicians-- by right of birth.” Jules Verne

“So long as you have food in your mouth, you have solved all
questions for the time being”
Franz Kafka

The world is complicated with different cultures,
languages, attire, cuisine etc. During business travel

For a business traveler, food, drink and restaurant
etiquette are easy aids to remember a place in addition
48

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015
to clichés and surprises, provided he is willing to
experiment. I have some interesting memories of food
like moose meat at Vasteras, fried ravioli at Memphis, a
monkey gland burger at Johannesburg (not to be taken
literally), and locally brewed pale ale at Bergamo.
Restaurant etiquette though seemingly contradictory
over different places are interesting and easy to
remember. In the US one has to ask to be seated, gets
water (iced) for free without asking, is expected to tip
generously and can take a doggy bag without any
eyebrows raised. In Germany one can get seated
without asking, but has to ask and pay for water, is not
expected to tip and cannot take a doggy bag without it
being construed an insult.

Experience

different cultures but with the increasing pace and
reach of globalization there is a risk that these
differences may get eventually erased.
In Krakow, in the office in a renovated palace close to
the historic old town, watching soviet era trams rumble
by, I have interacted with young Poles with degrees
from one of the oldest universities in Europe queueing
for jobs at back offices of multinationals from US and
Western Europe. Jobs in back offices of multinationals
are equally in demand in Košice or Kolkata, also cities
with great universities, a glorious past and relatively a
not so glorious present. Do the young is all these cities
take as much pride in their culture and history as they
do in their multinational jobs? I do not know.

The joys of business travel are not only in finding
differences among people and cultures but also
similarities. Swiss and Swedish cultures are normally
vastly different though an average American may not
even know them as two different countries. Working in
Switzerland I learnt of the Znüni and Zvieri, the
breaks at nine and four during the work day, a time for
informal communication and bonding. Then working
briefly at Sweden I came across the Fika, a coffee break
taken twice during the work day, at nine and three.
Such specific similarities have existed among generally

From Krishnanagar to Krakow, having traversed over
many degrees of latitude and longitude, over many
years of time, with hair turning black to grey and now
starting to fall off, I have come to believe that all my
business travel has enriched my understanding and
experience, and made me more tolerant. I fully
subscribe to what Henry Miller stated i.e. “One's
destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing
things".

49

Experience

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Solar Eclipse in the Arctic
Kaustav Ghose, after completing his
doctorate in microtechnology from
EPFL, he is currently working at the
University of Bern in the department
of Space Research and Planetary
Science. Originally from Pune, India,
he loves to travel to places off the
beaten track, camera always in hand.
Contact: kaustavghose@gmail.com

78°

wanting to travel to see this event in such a remote
corner of the world, I started making arrangements a
year before the eclipse. Flights were readily found, but
most hotels were booked out by tour operators’ years in
advance of the eclipse, and I certainly didn’t want to
pony up the outrageous prices they were asking. It took
me months before I managed to get a reasonably priced
accommodation. Once this was done, I got busy
gearing up to spend a week in the high Arctic during
March, with the expected high temperatures of the day
going all the way up to a bracing -20 Celsius.

15´ N

Svalbard, the name comes from the Old Norse words
that literally mean “cold shore”. Though Scandinavians
may have discovered it as early as the 12th century, the
first recognized discovery was made in 1596 by William
Barentz. He looked at this harsh land, and named the
archipelago Spitzbergen, after the most common
geological feature he could see all around, the lines of
pointed peaks along the shore. Today Spitzbergen is the
name of the largest island in the archipelago, with
Longyearbyen being the largest settlement. While
planning a trip to Norway many years ago, on reading
the descriptions of Svalbard, I yearned to go, but alas,
time and money fell short.

The flight from Zurich to Oslo took two hours. Then
northwards and onwards from Oslo to Longyearbyen
took three. The flights to Longyearbyen are the
northernmost commercial flights in the world. In other
words, you cannot buy a ticket that will take you further
North. The first glimpses of Svalbard came through
breaks in the cloud over the islands, and the plane
landed on the permafrost runway under a heavily
overcast sky. Naturally, this made me worry about what
the weather would be like on eclipse day, and I spent
the days leading up to the eclipse obsessively checking
the forecast. I then took the airport bus to my hostel, up
the valley of the Longyear River, and went shopping to
stock up on food. The one and only, very well stocked
local supermarket turned out to be a Coop, but
surprisingly, even at 78°15´N latitude, the prices were
similar to the neighbourhood Coop, thanks in part to
no taxes. Svalbard is governed under the Svalbard
treaty of 1920, and follows Norwegian law, but is not
Norwegian national territory. Hence the airport had no
immigration or customs. An interesting fact is that
India, due to being part of the British Empire back

Astronomy being a hobby since childhood, I chanced
across an article that mentioned that the totality of the
solar eclipse of March 20th, 2015 would pass over
only two areas of land on the planet, Svalbard and the
Faroe Islands, and immediately realised I could kill two
birds with one stone, finally visit Svalbard, and also see
a most spectacular astronomical event in an unique
landscape. After some more research about the chances
of cloud cover, which actually turned out to be lower
than in the more southern Faroes, not only the stars,
but also the moon and Sun were all aligned, and the
time had come for a trip to Svalbard.
North by Northbound
Longyearbyen has a permanent population of about
1500 people. Given the expected demand for flights
and accommodation from the large number of people

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when the Svalbard treaty was signed, is one of the
signatories today as well.

Experience

guide decided to head back to Longyearbyen
immediately, and for a while it looked like a helicopter
might have to be called. Eventually we got back
without further incident or injury, and the couple
recovered after having some hot drinks. The guide was
nice enough to offer the rest of us a shorter hike to
another, lower mountain-top called Sokkertoppen,
from where we got some great views of the fjord and
surrounding mountains.

Arctic Hiking
With a whole week to spend in Longyearbyen, I started
looking for things to do in the vicinity before and after
the eclipse. There are a number of activities possible at
this time of the year, such as snowshoe hiking, dog
sledding, and snowmobile excursions. I decided to start
with a hike to a glacier cave not too far from
Longyearbyen. The guides provided us with snowshoes,
poles, and headlamps and crampons for inside the
glacier, with each person responsible for their
individual warm clothing. After all the gear was
distributed the guides loaded their rifles and we headed
out to the glacier. When going outside Longyearbyen, it
is “suggested” to carry what the locals euphemistically
call “polar bear protection”. It ranges from having a
rifle, to following numerous rules if camping out in the
wild. Stories of polar bear attacks are not infrequent,
and they usually happen because humans fail to respect
some rule or other. Unless one is licensed to carry a
gun, then the only safe way to travel outside
Longyearbyen is with a guide who is carrying one.

While walking back to the hostel after this long day, the
mountains and sky turned a lovely shade of blue and
stayed that way for hours. The Sun sets at a shallow
angle, which means the Sunset lasts for hours, and the
sky goes through a range of reds, purples and blue.
Several locals said that their favourite time of the year
is February, when the Sun is just below the horizon for
most of the day. It is like being in a day-long Sunset,
with colours varying throughout the day. They call it
the “Blue season”, and even though I saw it for a few
hours each day, I could see why.
Snowmobile Safari
At this time of the year Spitzbergen is a sheet of ice.
From shore to shore and horizon to horizon, the
ground is frozen, covered by ice with a thin layer of
snow on top. So it was unsurprising to learn that
snowmobiles outnumber people in Longyearbyen.
From October to April, snowmobiles are the fastest way
to get around the island. Journeys across the island that
take a week of walking in summer, or can be done by
ship alone, can be completed in hours while riding a
snowmobile.

We walked up a valley, following the course of a frozen
river, until we reached the cave into the glacier. The
guides warned us that it’s not a good idea if any of us
are claustrophobic. I barely got through the two foot
wide opening, which steeply headed downward into the
glacier. Inside we switched on our headlamps and
followed the crevasse for about a 150 m. The bands of
frozen snow and dirt piled up over dozens of years as
we walked along in the light of the headlamps were
surreal. We stopped where the cave widened out a bit
and we had a small picnic. The guide asked us to turn
off our lamps for a while to experience the pitch dark
and silence inside the glacier. We then climbed back
out and headed back to Longyearbyen.

I chose a snowmobile trip that went to the east coast of
Spitzbergen, across a part of the island which is
relatively narrow. I teamed up with my roommate from
the hostel to share a snowmobile. After getting the suits,
helmets, boots, goggles, gloves, and balaclava necessary
to avoid getting frostbite in the wind-chill, we started off
on a beautiful morning, with hardly any clouds in the
sky. It was my first time driving a snowmobile, and the
experience of zooming through Arctic valleys under a
bright Sun, and over glaciers, and sea ice at 50 to 60
km/hr won`t be easily surpassed. The terrain from
west to east kept changing. We started in flat valleys and
continued higher into more hilly terrain, following the
guide as precisely as possible of course, and taking
breaks to enjoy the scenery. We then went onto the
slope of a truly massive glacier which we followed
down onto where the glacier met sea ice, and reached

Next day, the Sun was bright with hardly any clouds in
the sky. I started on another hike to a local peak called
Trollenstein with the expectation of superb views of
the areas around Longyearbyen, and we were making
good progress. But it turned into a lesson of what can
go wrong in such conditions. Even with the Sun out,
the temperature was about -25 Celsius. The guide
called a halt to drink and have some snacks. When we
prepared to start again, one couple in the group started
to display signs of hypothermia. They were dressed
inappropriately, and the effects were apparent. The

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the east coast of Spitzbergen. It was an icebound,
desolate place and though we had had hopes of seeing
a polar bear or two, all we saw were some recent bear
tracks. The guides explained that usually seals and
bears were present in small numbers, but a recent big
storm had compacted the sea ice, and the seals had left
the area, and the bears had followed the seals.

When I next picked up my binoculars to look at the
Sun, they were cold, out of focus, and the focusing
knob was jammed. The -20C air had done its work, but
I had the backup of looking through my camera zoom
lens. More worryingly I had managed to breathe out a
bit over my wide angle lens, and it froze into a thin
coating of frost almost instantly. I did my best to warm
up the lens by putting my hands close, praying that it
would slowly defrost. Finally it worked, and I put them
both on auto shooting and began waiting for the show
to begin.

We parked the snowmobiles on sea ice and ate lunch.
This consisted of a frozen dried Arctic field ration
packet warmed up by pouring hot water into it and
letting it “cook” for five minutes. After the long
snowmobile ride, it tasted gourmet. There was plenty of
hot water for tea, and some sweet drinks and cookies as
well, to replenish our energy. The guide said that the
temperature might be as low as -30 in that area.

About an hour before totality, the first contact of the
edge of the Sun and moon happened. A shallow dip in
the Sun became apparent and started growing. The
next fifty minutes were spent watching the Sun dwindle
into a fiery crescent, but this was apparent only through
the solar filters. The naked eye did not see much of a
difference until the last ten minutes before totality, when
things began to get really interesting. The light began to
noticeably dim. Shadow bands, thin patterns of light
and dark could be clearly seen, racing over the frozen,
white ground. As totality approached and darkness fell,
I took off my protective goggles just in time to see a
spectacular diamond ring effect as the last bits of the
Sun peeked out through the lunar mountains. Then
totality happened and the Suns corona was suddenly
visible. Three to four times the diameter of the Sun, the
first sight of these streamers of gas stretching far out
into the sky left me awestruck. Solar prominences could
be seen arcing out from behind the moon. The sky
wasn’t completely dark though, and looking around, I
could see the planet Venus, and a few of the brightest
stars. The moons shadow was all the way to the
horizon, which had turned a deep shade of red which I
had never seen before. After about two minutes of this
spectacle, the diamond ring appeared again, this time
on the other side of the moon, and the Sun started to
reappear. The shadow bands came back for a while,
and as we kept watching until about an hour later, the
last edge of the moon left the Sun. Tired from the
excitement and fully satisfied, we packed up our gear
and drove back to our hostel.

Despite living in Switzerland for years, the return
journey redefined what ‘cold’ could feel like! The Sun,
never high in the sky to begin with, was setting, and I
was riding pillion on the way back. Here’s a tip, do not
ride pillion on a snowmobile for long, since only the
driver’s footrest and handgrips are heated by the
engine. Though wearing insulating gear top to bottom,
the cold began to seep deeply into my hands and feet,
and I had to switch spots with my roommate for a while
to warm myself up. Though cold, the long journey
through the wild and stark landscape, in the light of the
slowly setting Sun was as beautiful as it could be. We
got back to Longyearbyen after almost nine hours,
having covered more than 200 stunning kilometres.
Northern Darkness (and lights)
On Eclipse Day, I woke up to a palpable sense of
excitement running through the hostel. It could be felt
in dozen different ways, from the rushed steps people
were taking as they walked to breakfast, to the nervous
and hopeful glances outside the windows to the wisps of
cloud in the sky. Though it looked very promising, after
having experienced all kinds of weather in the
preceding days, nobody wanted to talk about the
weather for fear of jinxing it. But as the morning wore
on, it became evident that we were guaranteed the
celestial show we had come so far north for.

The night after the eclipse the northern lights put on a
show, and I saw a shooting star as well, but I could not
think of anything to wish for.

With some fellow eclipse chasers who had rented a car,
we drove away from Longyearbyen, along the
Adventdalen valley to find a spot with few people
around, and a clear view of the Sun. With the Sun
being so low in the sky and mountains all around
casting long shadows—making sure that we had a spot
with clear views throughout the period of the eclipse
was important.

Arctic Dreams
Svalbard is unique and amazing. Each season brings a
different climate, the landscape changes, the wildlife
changes, the Sun appears, it disappears. I already have
a list of the different times of the year I will be going
back to experience this place again. Maybe it will be in
the summer, to see polar bears and seals under the
midnight Sun. Maybe in February, to watch the ice
covered mountains turn blue and purple. I am sure I
will be amazed again and again.

I had a quick education in what the cold could do. After
getting out of the car, I focused my binoculars, covered
with solar filters of course and kept it on a mat. Then I
spent the next fifteen minutes setting up my cameras.

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53

Experience

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Nine to Nine - My Days in Zurich
The
expat
diary

Jhilam Mukherjee
Born and brought up partly in Mumbai and mostly in Kolkata, I have been
living and working in Zurich for around 6 years now with my husband and
2 year old son. Primarily an IT professional, I also perform as part of an
Indian dance group and occasionally dabble in writing when I can sneak
time out from by multiple roles as mom, software engineer and dancer.
Contact: jhilam81@gmail.com

Is

occasional meeting at somebody's desk. No gathering of
people here and there for discussions and laughing over
nothing. The funny part is we can speak anything in
our own language without bothering about who is
hearing. For official work, we interact with all, so it
becomes necessary to understand the possible
interpretations and reactions that one's words might
draw. Also, it becomes necessary to study, understand
and categorize behaviours based on countries people
belong to.

it still night or has the day commenced? I peek a

little from under my quilt to find my husband not in
bed. That is not uncommon, it might be night and he
might not have come to sleep at all, he might have got
up in the middle of the night, it might be morning and
he might have got up. I strain my ears a little to catch
some sounds. Yes, the shower is running. That means it
is morning and I have to get up. I hate to look at the
table clock as my brain’s computer is still in ‘sleep
mode’. Alas, it is past 7:30 am and I have to get up, no
choice.

German's are stiff, Italians are mostly handsome,
boisterous and cannot pronounce hard consonants,
Swiss are very very polite and soft spoken, Americans
are straight forward and demanding. But it is fun to
analyse behaviours. On the fifth day of my joining, I
was briefed about general processes and systems that I
needed to use. The "briefing" took 90 minutes, as the
person responsible was Swiss and explained the history,
reasoning behind, tricks and pros and cons of all
systems in use. It would have taken 10 minutes
anywhere else, but I was happy to get the background
and foreground of everything instead of just being told
what to do. The Swiss have an interesting trait, they
always greet when they meet, even if they don't know
you. But beyond that, they do not come out of their
shells or relax their barriers. The Germans are
interesting in their own way. They say everything in
your face. One such incidence happened in an official
meeting with 3 Indians, 2 Swiss and 1 German.
Everybody was talking about the slowness of a system.
The German covered his mouth and said loudly, "As
slow as the Swiss".

My husband enters the room, bathed and shaved and
starts spraying two three deos. The smell overpowers
me, especially because of the closed room. I drag
myself up and get ready. He puts together the breakfast.
It differs every day, as he gets bored very easily. The
variety comprises of buttered toast, milk, boiled eggs,
fruits, baguettes, Maggi, cornflakes and other such
easily preparable stuff. He also puts together the lunch.
I keep it prepared in fridge every night, he packs it. I
grab a few bites, sometimes pack the rest in a napkin to
have it in the bus and rush out at the last moment, run
over the grass to catch the bus that he has kept waiting
for me two extra seconds. We reach office together,
trying out different combinations of bus, train and
tram, in our quest to reach as early as possible. Swiss
transport system is unbeatable in terms of efficiency
and timeliness, and we reach office on time every day.
‘Office’ sometimes appears like a circus to me with a
mix of people from all over the world, with their own
languages, expressions, reactions and interpretations.
But everyone’s dressing pattern has almost no variety.
In fact, compared to India, this place is so devoid of
colour and variety in clothing that I find it a trifle
boring and monochromatic. More so during the
winters, as the sky is grey, grass is white with snow,
buildings wear a bleak colour, men and women mostly
wear thick black jackets. In spite of the cold and near
lack of sunlight, people are at their desks before 8:30.
We Indians have shifted the office timings from 8:30 to
9:00 and sometimes even beyond it. There is no
breakfast break like in India. People just grab a
croissant, and a drink that we wouldn't call coffee, but
they do. There is almost near silence in the office, apart
from the sound of typing and papers shuffling or some

Anyway, let's go back to my office. A colleague of mine,
let's call him Rohan taught a German neighbour some
Hindi words like "Suprabhat" for "Good Morning",
"Namaste" for "Grüzie", "Shukriya" for "Thank You".
Now, whenever he sees an Indian, he folds his hands
and says Namaste, which can get quite funny at times.
The other day, Rohan called an Indian girl, when she
did not respond he flipped his fingers above his head to
draw her attention. Our German neighbour liked it a
lot, he also started flipping his fingers in the air. And he
used to be the most serious guy in the project, always
staring hard at the monitor and working. Another funny
habit of people over here is to sit on dustbins when they
go to somebody's desk and find no chairs around.
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Experience

imagined a wonderful world of lights, reindeers and
Santa, what my imagination had omitted (or was rather
unaware of ) the extreme cold and bleakness in
everyday life.

Football makes Europeans go crazy. During big
tournaments, the nationalities' fight comes out. The
finance channels are forgotten and people remain glued
to sports channels even at office. A Swiss colleague once
presented a German colleague with a handkerchief
when Germany lost and in turn the German showed
no expression at all. In spite of all this fun, I find people
out here dry as toast, remember the movie "My big fat
Greek Wedding"? People distribute gipfelis on all
occasions - birthdays, software launches, back-fromvacation treats, joining-a-new-team greetings, leavinga-team farewells etc. Imagine us distributing bread in
India on special occasions. We would be laughed at
throughout life. But then, people aren't very keen on
food over here, breakfast I already described, lunch is
mostly a cold and tasteless sandwich with a soft drink,
quickly finished poring over a newspaper and mostly
alone; which is why they find it very interesting that we
Indians bring home-cooked food every day—rotis, rice,
daal, subzi, chicken. They are drawn by the delicious
smells and often look into our lunch boxes and smile at
us while passing. Indians are also known for forming
groups and having lunches. On every floor of Credit
Suisse IT building, you will find groups of Indians
bundled together, having lunch, sharing news and
gossip and important information about the country
and its numerous rules. Most conversations have a
common line, "You know what happened to him that
day…..some incidence….there is some law that states
this….. we need to be very careful". Lunch starts and
ends within 10 minutes for us. But people out here have
elaborate appointments on their calendars during
lunch time. They are fond of activities like jogging, or
swimming, during lunch time. In the evening also, they
often have appointments like picking up their kid from
a creche, or a party or just private appointments, which
implies they are not available after 4 or 5. I like this
immensely strong need and respect for a good work-life
balance, which you rarely find elsewhere. I too have
started blocking my calendar for my important private
appointments.

Home would have been nice and cosy, had there been
some time to enjoy it—and no headache of cleaning
and finishing household chores. We also try to go to the
gym, just to ensure that in spite of all the cheese and
chocolates, we can still squeeze into our sleek and tightfitting clothes. Going to the gym during winter is a pain
—with layers of clothes. Nothing should be
mismatched, such is the particularity of the Swiss and
my husband. Our gym is on the 19th floor of a
building close to our home. The view that the gym
offers is one to die for—sprawling meadows, roads,
train tracks, forests at a distance, malls and houses
strewn amongst all these. Even aeroplanes flying from
the airport can be seen from a distance. Trains and
buses look like toys you can play with. The gym doesn’t
resemble any Indian gym that we have been to—it is
mostly empty and almost feels like a personal gym.
Equipment is also always in perfect condition, clean
and waiting to be used. If you do see other people they
are in perfect gym attire and with perfect bodies.
Everything seems almost out of a sports magazine.
Gym is both tiring and refreshing at the same time.
Going back home from the gym means trudging along
a lonely road sandwiched between two theatres of
Hallenstadion to reach the bus stop. A bright spot
during this walk is a ‘shooting star’ that I see every day,
perched on top a building’s roof, which always gives me
the feeling of waiting to fly away. It is one of those
Christmas decorations that I mentioned earlier.
Returning home for the second time during the day, I
freshen up and start preparing dinner in a haste. The
only thought that dominates my mind is, "Have to eat
fast and go to bed as early as possible". Dinner is not
the social activity that we know of in India. Here, it is
mostly accompanied with TV or movies or silence on
some days when we are too tired or grumpy. Dinner
doesn't mean the day is over. All utensils have to be
cleaned and wiped. This is when I or for that matter
most Indians miss India most. The luxury of having a
maid doing all the cleaning and cooking is unheard of
in this country and most countries in the west. A maid
would demand more salary that we get paid. Bed time
is mostly at 10 pm for me, I try to stick to it, but mostly
fail, as the Internet or TV or some book takes away
some more time from my sleep. Anyway, during
winters, when the sun does not shine, I never feel the
urge to get up from bed. Had it not been for office, and
had I had no sense of responsibility, I would hibernate
for 4 months at a stretch. But I do not blame my ‘office’
rather it has given me all these experiences, all the food
for thought and fun, and continues to be a door to a
new social, economic and informational world for me.

Winter according to me is a comparatively less
productive time. People are groggy in the mornings and
early to leave office in the evenings as darkness
descends earlier than usual. In summers, 10 pm is the
time while in winters 5 pm seems like midnight. Going
home from office is an unpleasant task, with a desolate
city and a bitter cold to brace. The only joyful element
during winter is the Christmas lightings, which start
more than a month before the D-day. It is like Diwali,
though a lot less noisy, much more sleek and
sophisticated and without the smell of sulphur in the
air. Malls are covered with curtains of light, open lawns
are strewn with lighted reindeers, polar bears, sledges
and Santa clauses. Stars and various geometrical shapes
are perched on top of buildings and in balconies. I see
them every day and think of all the poems and stories
that I had read about Christmas in cold countries and
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Experience

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Unravelling Switzerland

The
expat
diary

From

Pallabi Roy-Chakraborty
An IT professional, living in Switzerland for the past 8 years,
Pallabi is an avid reader and believes herself to be a nomad at
heart. Her husband Sandipan and son Reyan are her
inspirations and most effective stressbusters.
Contact: pallabi.roy82@gmail.com

handsomely rewarded. To my colleagues, I was no
longer the intruder but a welcome guest trying to adapt
to the ways of the host.

the mighty Himalayas to the sublime

beauty of the Alps, from the raging oceans to the serene
lakes, my first impressions of Switzerland are that of a
journey into a world of opposites.
When I first arrived in Bern on a dark foggy night way
back in 2007, what immediately struck me was the
complete silence. I missed the lively chaos and the din
of the city I called home. The perfectly timed trains to
the extreme cleanliness further accentuated the Swiss
stereotype of being extremely organized and only
served to rattle the supremely unorganized laid back
Bong in me.

As I got to know Switzerland better, I realized that the
seemingly perfect land had a few kinks in its armour as
well. For starters, I surely could do without the high cost
of living, the insipid cuisine and the bland lifeless
winters. How the same set of people, who otherwise are
so respectful of individual boundaries, tend to
completely disregard the discomfort of non-smokers in
public areas, how they continue to vandalize the
otherwise perfectly clean streets with cigarette butts still
continues to baffle me.
Nevertheless, all said and done, the quality of life in
Switzerland is arguably amongst the best in the world.
How it has achieved the perfect balance between
modern and traditional, how one continues to hold on
to what is precious yet spice it up with what is in vogue
is remarkable indeed.

I was suddenly surrounded by people who seemed to
speak in a language that made it look like they were
perpetually clearing their throats! Furthermore, hailing
from a city famous for its rich cuisine, the simple local
fare did not seem palatable enough and did nothing to
alleviate the agony caused by the unfamiliarity all
around me. At work, I was greeted with cold stares and
inhibited smiles. The IT sector in Bern was just seeing a
surge in expats and any proposals or suggestions
towards a different approach would invariably evoke
the response “That is not how we work! That is not our
culture!”

In December 2012, Switzerland became synonymous
with the most cherished moment of my life: the birth of
my son. What was once only the land of the Alps,
chocolate and cheese is now also where I first held my
son, saw him take his first steps and heard him babble
an unintelligible mix of German and Bengali. I
continue to discover a new Switzerland every single day
as I see it through the eyes of my son.

There were not many English speakers and my inability
to speak German only served to compound my
unacceptability.

As I lay back and reflect, I realize that from the mouthwatering 'phuchkas' and 'tandooris', my taste buds have
adjusted well to the scintillating ‘raclettes’, ‘fondue’ and
all things cheesy (pun unintended)! The silence that had
once caused desperation and homesickness now gives
me an amazing feeling of peace and tranquillity. This
land and its people now seem pleasantly familiar and
make me feel at home, a home, which I might leave but
my heart would never.

Surprisingly, the people outside, to whom I came across
as the unassuming tourist, seemed extremely kind,
cordial and helpful. It seemed that outsiders were
welcome as long as they came with a pre-determined
date of departure. I spent the next few months trying to
pick up the basic tenets of German and understanding
the local customs and cultures. My efforts were
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SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

My Memories

of Switzerland

The
expat
diary

Leaving

Experience

Moumita Chakraborty
Ex-Swisspuja Committee member, grew up in Chandanagar
(West Bengal) and lived in Switzerland for several years,
currently residing in Germany with daughter and husband,
loves cooking, reading books and listening to music.
Contact: moumitagoswami0@gmail.com

German was a prerequisite if I wanted to live here
without any hiccups.

a country like Switzerland can never

One more thing that I would like to mention is our
small trips to different parts of Europe during our stay
in Switzerland. Within a span of four years, we had
managed to visit almost twelve neighbouring countries
within Europe. Most of the places that we travelled to
were so beautiful that they will remain etched in my
memory forever. My husband and I both love to travel,
here in Switzerland the time between planning and
visiting a place is short—probably due to the ease of
planning and executing.

be easy. Switzerland was always a country of my
dreams. I still remember, my preparation to come to
Switzerland started right after my marriage. My
husband was working in a Swiss firm for the last couple
of months. My excitement reached its climax when I
came to know that I would have to travel on my own to
Switzerland. Well, this would not only be my first travel
by air but would also be my very first journey abroad!
When I first landed in Zurich airport, it was almost like
a dream come true. Credit goes to Shahrukh Khan’s
Bollywood blockbuster “Dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge”
through which I had in a way already arrived in
Switzerland years ago and had already fallen in love
with this country’s beauty. In real life I arrived four
years back. My husband and I recently had a beautiful
addition to our family—my daughter who was born
here, a year ago.

Life sometimes takes an unplanned route. Quite out of
the blue, one day we were informed that our residence
permits in Switzerland wouldn’t get extended anymore
and we would have to leave the country soon. My
daughter was just born; and it took me couple of days
to digest this shocking news. We had bought everything
for the baby—a new pram, a baby cot, loads of toys,
clothes and accessories and our house was literally full.
Leaving Switzerland for India would mean that we
would have to dispose all our acquisitions with no delay.

Here in Switzerland, I made some wonderful friends,
people from various parts of the world, Romania to
Afganisthan, enriched our lives. I remember Khadija
from Morocco. We used to hang out a lot together, over
coffee and snacks. One day she invited me to her place
and prepared a Morroccan dish with a special
Morrocan tea. That ‘taste’ still lingers. The reason I'm
mentioning her name is because she was the first
foreigner friend that I had here in Switzerland.
Gradually the list grew into a beautiful potpourri. My
husband and I mingled rather with ease, and for that I
have to give credit to my German classes, which helped
us enormously to connect with the local people. Many
afternoons, instead of taking a nap, I would venture out
and explore the city. Oh, how painful it was to always
enter a bookstore and not be able to pick a book which
caught my eyes, because it was in German, and my
German skills was at best conversational not mature
enough to indulge in literature.

We had to leave and had limited time in hand. This
prompted me to invite my parents to visit us in
Switzerland before we left for good. After they left, it
was time to pack our own suitcases, say Tschüss to the
land of Heidi and Dilwale Dulhaniya and return back
to India.
My heart refused to accept this sudden turn of events
—but I had to cajole it to accept it with no remorse. I
believe that a place becomes a home when you have
friends and well-wishers around you. This was another
reason why in spite of living for only a couple of years
in Zurich, I became so attached to it. Whenever I used
to miss my family in India, my friends here would cheer
me up. They even arranged a baby shower for me.
Their love, care, presence always lifted my spirits
whenever I felt home-sick.

Initially, not knowing the local language used to make
me nervous. I would fear that, I would lose my way in
the streets and not be able to follow the strange road
signs and return home. Slowly I realised that learning

From Switzerland, I boarded the flight, once again
back to my own country, India.
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Coming back to your own home, where you have no
fear of losing any ‘residence permit’ is always special.
My in-laws and parents were waiting eagerly to
welcome back home their granddaughter and us. The
smile on their face took away all my worries of
relocation and fatigue from packing and re-settling. My
heart said "All izz well".

made acquaintance with many people living in and
around Zurich.
I come from Chandannagar (which is located at an
hour’s distance from Kolkata). In Chandanagar, we
celebrate Jagadhatri puja with much greater fervour
and fashion than Durgapuja—which is rather
inconspicuous and is only a tangential part of our
festivity. But all that changed, when I became part of
Swiss Durga Puja—which gave me the chance to enjoy
it thoroughly and not regret my not being in
Chandannagar. The Indian community here in
Switzerland is vibrant and very warm. Here you know
everybody and everybody knows you, your presence
and participation matters. I still have fond memories of
being a part of the Swisspuja Organizing Committee
three years back.

Being the kind of ‘glutton’ that I am, it took me less
than a minute to surrender myself to the delectable
aroma of "Khasir Mangser Jhol". And the grand
privilege of indulging in all sorts of Bengali delicacies
without ever having to chop, cook and do the dishes
myself. Every evening a cup of hot tea with 'Singara'
and 'Chanar Payes' from our very famous local sweet
shop was the cherry on top of each day’s routine. At
night I realised that lying in the bed back in one’s own
home precedes the best kind of sleep.

This beautiful country, Switzerland, changed me as a
person. Its silence to the contrary made me more
communicative, more open to new things and ideas.
After coming to Germany, I somehow feel more
confident in all aspects of life. I feel, my stay in
Switzerland has already taught me how to face an
unaccustomed life. Making home in a foreign country
away from one’s own family and friends with no one to
share your daily struggle but your husband, now seems
to be much easier than the first few days I spent in
Zurich. Credit also goes to the beautiful little person
who shares my life now, and my fond memories of
Zurich.

But, ‘home’ is neither a constant place, nor a constant
memory; it keeps changing almost every time we try to
settle down. Few months back, we relocated again, this
time to Nuremberg, Germany.
The world has shrunk, thanks to Internet and smart
phones—which has enabled me to stay in touch with all
my friends in Switzerland and India. Nevertheless, a
visit in person is something that never loses its magic
and bliss. I wonder, if I shall visit Switzerland once
again, perhaps during the festivities of Durgapuja?
Durgapuja, organised by Swisspuja in Zurich was a lot
of fun, when we lived there. During the festivities, I had

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Essay

Landmarks of Switzerland
Madhubrata Banerjee
Chatterjee
Author is PhD researcher in
Astronautics and Space
Engineering in an eminent UK
University, mother of a toddler,
from Kolkata, presently resident of
Switzerland.
Contact: mctech.24@gmail.com

N
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CE
It

beam of particles toward the detectors after speeding
up and boosting the energy of the particles by
generating electric and magnetic fields. The collision of
the highly energetic particles takes place inside four
detectors – ATLAS, CMS, ALICE and LHCb.
Detectors consist of several sub detectors like tracking
devices, calorimeters and particle-identification
detectors gathering information like mass, speed,
charge, energy, curvature of path of a particle, which
are used for calculations to detect the particle’s identity.
CERN is a beautiful example of collaboration between
Physics, Engineering and Computing. Within LHC,
particles collide around 600 million times per second
and generate 15 petabytes (15 million gigabytes) of
data every year demonstrating the significance of
world’s largest computing Grid ‘’Worldwide LHC
Computing Grid’’ (WLCG).
Who can imagine a world without the World Wide
Web (WWW) these days which was invented in 1989 at
CERN. Engineering also plays a vital role at CERN to
broaden the boundaries of Physics. There are 10 times
more engineers compared to physicists as employees.
Engineers at CERN design, build and test some of the
most advanced machines so that the data on which the
research will be carried out, can be relied on.
After a day well spent, on our way back home by the
side of lake Geneva I was thinking that with all these
interdisciplinary activities CERN is certainly a
landmark of Switzerland, depicting Switzerland’s
contribution towards today’s world beyond chocolate,
cheese and watches. By the way, if you are following
CERN on twitter please do not forget to confirm the
news before retweeting or sharing their post in social
media on 1st April.

was summer of 2011. I was expecting my son and

enjoying a beautiful Swiss summer. One day my
husband and I received an invitation from our beloved
uncle in Switzerland to visit CERN along with family
members. CERN is the European Council for Nuclear
Research (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche
Nucléaire). It was founded in 1954 and wonderfully
bespeaks that Switzerland is not only one of the most
beautiful countries in the world but also is the hub of
one of the world’s leading organization that is run by
21 member states along with the involvement of several
other non-European countries. Although CERN
mainly emphasises on particle physics, activities of
CERN revolve around other fields like computing and
engineering as well.
Being a student of Astronautics and Space
Engineering, I find it fascinating to look into the future
of the Space industry by learning new technologies to
build space crafts, rockets and satellites to reach outer
space. At the same time, I somehow feel that CERN is
the archaeologist of Space. Through the research on
particle physics, CERN is actually digging into the past
of the Universe and beyond. Naturally, I was very glad
to receive the invitation and we headed towards
Geneva on the scheduled day.
It was a guided tour by the people of CERN. They
showed us different areas within CERN and explained
their work. Particle physics is their main focus of
research. Physicists at CERN use accelerators and
detectors to validate the ‘Standard Model’ of particle
physics describing the fundamental structure of matter
i.e., everything in the Universe is made of few
fundamental particles. CERN carries out researches in
many exciting fields of Physics like Cosmic rays, Dark
matter, Extra dimensions, Early Universe, HiggsBoson, Sub-atomic particles, Supersymmetry,
Antimatter and many more. Early Universe
experiments look for evidences to prove the Big Bang,
which talks about the birth of Universe 13.7 billion
years ago following an explosive event. Stars and
galaxies i.e., the visible Universe is only 4% of the
actual Universe. Scientists believe that 26% of the
actual Universe is made of Dark Matter which does not
emit electromagnetic radiation or light.
Accelerators and detectors are the main instruments to
accomplish CERN’s research on particle physics. The
circular accelerator Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
which consists of a 27 kilometre ring is the World’s
largest particle accelerator. LHC steers and focuses the

Photo by Author
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Essay

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

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Arindam Bajpayee is a Software
Engineer, from Durgapur (India). He is
fascinated by gadgets, cars, video games,
and enjoys programming. His new year's
resolution is "1080p".
Contact: arindam.bajpayee@yahoo.com

display on the floor below. So, where to go first?
since I got my hands on Need For Speed II

We started with Hall 3 (just because it was right in front
and my friend wanted to check out his Audi's next
version). The first car we saw was a concept by our very
own TATA Motors. Honestly, it felt like TATA brought
this one in, just for the sake of it - it didn't strike any
chords. What-so-ever. Walking past the concept, we saw
a couple of production-ready cars from TATA (which
looked more promising)—the Hexa (SUV/crossover)
and the Bolt (premium hatchback). If you plan to buy
an SUV in India, keep an eye out for Hexa—I think it
will not disappoint.

(a 1997 video game title - for the unaware), I had
developed quite a fascination for cars. I got into this
curious habit of guessing a car's brand based on the
logo - which I do even to this day. So when I started
seeing the posters of Geneva Motor-show 2015 (Salon
International de l'Auto) back in January, I knew this
event could not be missed. This show, which is held at
Geneva Palexpo every year in March, is among the top
international auto-shows and a lot of cars get
premiered at this event.

Meandering our way through the show, from one hall
to the next, we saw a lot of amazing, good-looking cars,
stopping for a pic here and there—till the camera
batteries ran dry. Looking back, I think I saw most of
the show through the lens of my camera.

Fast-forward to March 15th and I find myself on the
road to the show along with fellow car-enthusiast,
Swagata Dhar. We left home at 5:30AM and were at
the show's parking by 9:15AM - having had a break in
between. There was already a steady file of traffic
heading towards Geneva - so our time of arrival was
just about right. The organizers had segregated a
section of an airfield to serve as the parking - with bus
connections to and from the main venue—very
convenient.

Armed with our entry passes (sent to me by Lexus, after
becoming the owner of a beautiful GS450h) and a list
of "must-see’s” as compiled by Swagata, we arrived at
the venue by 9:40AM. It was already crowded. Getting
hurriedly past the entry and picking up a map on the
way, we were soon standing in front of the Hall 3. The
show was spread across 7 halls - with Hall 1 being
primarily for accessories and the like. We could already
see the glitter and shine on the numerous cars on

All those cars made us drool and not before long we
were hungry and thirsty. We headed outside where we
found a lot of food stalls and we grabbed ourselves
some döner kebabs. I can never get enough of those.

Photos by Author
60

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015
While we were there, we noticed a poster of “Top
Gear” (the famous BBC car show). They had brought
along a simulator to experience how it feels inside a
Bugatti Veyron with “the Stig” at the wheel. We fell for
it. It was not any different from the simulators you find
at kids fair with the whole capsule wobbling up and
down while a video of the race-track plays on a giant
screen. Honestly, if Bugatti Veyron feels like that on a
race track, I would never buy it (if I ever manage to
accumulate the amount that is). Still, convincing
ourselves that the CHF 10 (per head) entry fee was not
a total waste, we headed back in.

motoring world. Eventually, it was the VW Passat that
won the “Car of the Show” award and it quite
deserved the attention that was heaped onto it.
So, if you have never been here, do plan a visit in 2016.
Also, if you plan to buy a car, checking them out for
yourself in a show like this—with the insane amount of
options you get, clears any kind of biases or
reservations you might have. Even though you are in
Switzerland, German cars are not the only way to go
despite what your neighbor might have.
Having spent almost 4-5 hrs at the show, it was time for
us to head back. We took the bus back to the parking
spot, which was completely full by the way, and soon
we were on our way home—with a certain sense of
contentment. I would definitely like to come to this
show again next year and I hope to see you there!

Brands like Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes,
Volkswagen, Maserati, Tesla (fully electric), BMW,
Quant (to name a few) all put their creations on display
for the world to see. This staggering line of premiers
highlights the fact of how important this show is in the

Rajsekhar Paul, works as a pharmaceutical
scientist in Basel since 2008. Raj’s passion for
fine art, poetry and photography has flourished
over past years. Being one of the founding
members of a newly opened art gallery in Basel,
Raj exhibited many of his works at different
international galleries and art fairs. Contact:
paulrajsekhar@gmail.com

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Essay

welcomed 281 exhibitors and over 30,000 visitors.
Since its debut in 1970, the “Art Basel” has become the
modern and contemporary artworld's premier platform
for bringing together artists and their patrons in a way
that is both engaging and personal. With annual art
shows sited on three continents–Europe, North
America, and Asia–Art Basel is the only art show with
such global reach.

is like the Olympics,” said a New York art

dealer, “or the European Champions League, and
every good gallery and their artists wants desperately to
compete.”
Art Basel in Basel, which began in 1970, takes place in
June every year and marks the summer reunion of the
international art world, hosted by the Swiss city of
Basel, which has been a cultural capital for centuries. In
2015, the show featured close to 300 galleries from 33
countries, attracting more than 92,000 artists,
collectors, gallerists, museum directors, curators, and
art enthusiasts.

Art Basel stages art shows for high quality modern and
contemporary art and is conducted annually in Basel,
Miami Beach and Hong Kong. In 2002, Art Basel was
first launched in Miami Beach. Art Basel debuted in
Hong Kong in 2013.
The hundreds of gallery owners who apply each year
to secure a coveted booth at Art Basel, the Swiss art
fair, spend weeks on their admission applications. They
describe the evolution of their galleries, track the
history of their exhibitions and list the biographies of
their artists. Then there is the matter of the “mock
booths,” intricate sketches, miniature models, even
virtual tours, of their planned exhibition spaces,
complete with tiny reproductions of the exact works
they hope to exhibit. And perhaps no fair, dealers say, is
harder to get into than Basel, where for the privilege of
paying $50,000 to $80,000, galleries get to sell to the
highest of high-end collectors, build relationships and
burnish their reputations by sharing space with the best
dealers in the world.

I am a regular visitor of Art Basel since 2009. When I
visit Art Basel each year I am fascinated by the variety
of creations, each time with its novelty. In my personal
view, a visit to Art Basel is indeed a unique opportunity
to meet galleries and artists all over the globe. Art Basel
also allows me, as an individual artist to explore my art
practice within the European art community, meeting
new people, using new materials and thoughts,
reflecting these new thoughts in the art works and most
importantly, experiencing an exciting art-life!
The most powerful gatekeepers—and tastemakers—in
the art world--The Art Basel was founded by Basel
Gallerists (also known as art dealers and connoisseurs
of art). Three years after its launch, Art Basel
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As the art market explodes in value and collecting
becomes a global treasure hunt, the importance of
showing at art fairs has soared, too. Fairs now account
for about 40 percent of gallery sales by value, and as
collectors flock to destination bazaars in places like
Paris, London, New York, Miami and Maastricht in the
Netherlands, dealers, museum curators and art-world
groupies follow.

Andy Warhol “fright wig” self-portrait (sold by
Skarstedt, of New York and London). Axa, an
insurance company that is one of the fair’s sponsors,
estimates that more than $3 billion worth of art were
put up for sale at the fair this year. Today, V.I.P.
collectors are lavished with Champagne breakfasts,
lectures, tours, BMW car service, and most importantly,
early access to the fair so that they can buy the best art
first.

“It is like getting admitted to a club,” said a private art
dealer and former museum director and gallerist who
waited seven years before the doors opened to him in
2006.

Participating galleries for Art Basel are selected by
committees composed of international gallerists who
normally serve for several years. A fresh application
process begins each year and all galleries must reapply.

Complementing the multiple sectors, Art Basel hosts a
series of conversations and talks on a range of subjects,
including the collection and exhibition of art,
understanding art from a geographical and historical
perspective, and timely topics concerning the
contemporary art scene. Artists, gallerists, art historians,
curators, museum directors, publishers and collectors
participate in panel discussions, book signings and
interviews.

A Little Fair Grows Bigger
It wasn’t always this way. When Art Basel began 45
years ago in a staid Swiss town best known for banking
regulations, it was primarily a fair for European
galleries hoping to sell modern and contemporary art to
the growing ranks of mainly European collectors.

Try, Try, Try Again
Most galleries admitted for the first time, or after at
least one year’s absence, end up in second-tier locations
at the fair, according to six years of fair data. And most
are not invited back the next year. More established
dealers—the Gagosians, Paces and Zwirners, who
derive power from their superstar clients and artists—
dominate the inner aisles of the ground and second
floors of the main hall, considered by many as the most
sought-after real estate in the art fair world.

Galleries were usually invited back year after year. But a
jury system, introduced later in the 1970s to screen
applicants, gradually became more rigorous as Basel
leveraged its Swiss efficiency, convenient location and
five-star service to attract and cultivate a wealthier and
more demanding clientele.
These days Art Basel draws about 92,000 visitors to its
six days of connoisseurship, selling and schmoozing.
Many attendees are just window shoppers paying $50
for a day pass to watch the world’s richest people buy
the planet’s most expensive art, like the person who
paid around $34 million last year to walk away with an

Facts and Figures
• How many people visit the Basel show each year?
Around 90,000 visitors come to the Art Basel show in
Switzerland each year.

Photos by Author
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SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015
• What is the importance of Basel to Art Basel? The
city of Basel has been essential to Art Basel's success.
Known as a cultural capital for centuries, no other city
of this size in the world has so many great art
museums. All the museums in Basel support the show
by staging important exhibitions during Art Basel and
organizing receptions for the galleries and VIPs.

Essay

• Who selects the galleries? The Art Basel Selection
Committee for Basel, comprised of renowned
international gallerists, selects the galleries.
• How big is the exhibition space? Over 31'000 m2 of
exhibition space.
• How do I purchase a ticket to the show in Basel?
Tickets can be purchased at the show venues, or in
advance online. All major credit cards are accepted.

• What makes the Basel edition of Art Basel unique?
Art Basel in Basel originated in 1970, making it the first
of the Art Basel shows. The city of Basel is uniquely
situated in the heart of Europe, where Switzerland,
France and Germany meet.

• Are there any other cultural events taking place in
Basel at the same time? Yes, many exhibitions and
events are offered by cultural institutions in Basel and
the surrounding area, creating an exciting, region-wide
art week. The other major parallel festivals during the
art week are: VOLTA, SCOPE, Photo Basel, RhyArt
and LISTE.

• Where in Basel is Art Basel held? The show takes
place in Halls 1 and 2 of Messe Basel at Messeplatz in
Basel. Hall 1, built in 1999 by the Swiss architect and
art collector, Theo Hotz, with an addition designed in
2013 by Herzog & de Meuron, hosts the Unlimited and
Magazines sectors, as well as the Conversations and
Salon series. Hall 2, a landmark building from the
1950s built by Hans Hoffmann, hosts the Galleries,
Feature, Statements and Edition sectors.

Based in Basel, we run an art gallery called "INCH
Contemporary". A part of the gallery includes an artist-inresidence program and a platform that supports aspiring new
artists from all over the world to exhibit their new inspiring work
in Switzerland. The major focus of the gallery is Indian
contemporary art. This program was first introduced in 2012
with a Baroda Based Indian artist Nabanita Saha. Afterwards
we continued the journey with Rekha Sameer (UK Based Indian
artist) and Suprana Mandal (a Gurgaon based artist).

• How many art sectors are there at the show in Basel?
There are eight show sectors: Galleries, Feature,
Statements, Edition, Unlimited, Parcours, Film and
Magazines. Together, they feature a broad range of
artworks, including paintings, sculptures, photography,
film and video, institutional-scale artworks, plus public
artworks sited in the historical quarters of the city.

Through INCH Contemporary, our goal is to emphasize the
importance of meaningful and multi-layered cultural exchange by
relocating artists and arts. The artists are invited for a certain
time (usually 2 months) in Switzerland and space away from
their usual environment and obligations. This program provides a
time of reflection, research, presentation and/or production of
new art works by the artists during this 2-months’ time. The
artist can also have a chance to exist and spend few days in urban
spaces, rural villages, and deep in nature, according to his/her
needs for creativity.

• From which countries do the exhibiting galleries
come? In 2015, 284 galleries from 33 countries
exhibited in Basel.
• How many galleries apply? This year, nearly 1,000
galleries applied to participate in the show.
• How many galleries are selected? Approximately 300
galleries participate in the show each year.

earth, while You sustain the whole world by appearing as
water….You are the seed of the universe, :::You have cast illusion
on the whole world and, if You are pleased, You lead man to
liberation. All branches of knowledge and all ladies with their
arts are but various forms of Yours, O Devî!...You are the eternal
energy behind the cyclic acts of creation, sustenance and
dissolution of the universe… All things are Your forms only.”

word durgâ is the feminine form of the word

durga which etymologically means something difficult
of access or approach, something impassable or
unattainable, or something not easily graspable. In the
Vedic Durgâ-Sûktam, the following prayer is found:
“Oh Devî Durgâ, You have the form of fire, and You shine by the
power of tapasyâ; moreover, You are born of a shining thing (like
the Sun). I heartily welcome You, so that my actions may bear
fruits. You are good at saving people from the ocean (of misery); so
I take refuge in You for getting myself saved; I bow down to You.”

The Divine Mother seen in this light becomes another
name of the Upanishadic Brahman. Hunger and thirst
which are there in the world of illusion are also forms
of the great mother.

But the cult of the Devî reached its most glorious
apogee only in post-Vedic days with the maturity of
Shakti-ism in India. Saptashatî, which is a part of
Mârkandeya Purâna, and is recited during Durgâ Pûjâ,
contains several hymns which are important for
understanding the magnificent vision, regarding the
motherhood of God, of the seer-poet composing those
lines. A few examples are given below.

In Bhîshma Parva of the Mahâbhârata, there is a hymn
addressed to Durgâ by Arjuna on the eve of the war. It
is interesting to note that Arjuna says among other
things: “You are swâhâ, svadhâ, kalâ, kashthâ, and savitrî”,
and addresses Durgâ Devî as Kaushikî and
Shâkambharî. These ideas about the Divine Mother
are there in Saptashatî. We know for certain that by the
beginning of the Christian era, the Mahâbhârata
attained its present volume of one hundred thousand
shlokas1. So these ideas are at least 20 centuries old.

Brahmâ’s eulogy in the first chapter: “You are the highest
among all things that are high and low and have lordship over
everything. You are the soul of the whole universe as well as the
whole of the energy which is there in all things gross or subtle,
wherever they may exist.”

Saptashatî itself recommends the annual Pûjâ for
Durgâ in the autumn, Pûjâ which is called the untimely
invocation of the Devî, according to the legend of
Rama’s worship of Durgâ in many regional versions of
the Râmâyana and in Patteeswaram Durgâ Temple
Sthala.

Eulogy of Indra and other devatâs in the fourth
chapter: “You are beyond our comprehension. Your contemplation
itself is the spiritual vow which is undertaken by sages desiring
liberation after having controlled their sense organs, and purged all
impurities from their minds. The highest spiritual knowledge
leading to liberation is also You, O Devî.”

At the time of Adi Shankara’s advent the Devî cult2 was
well established among Indians. So the great âchârya
incorporated this in the panchâyatana3 system of Pûjâ,
promulgated by him, to bring about some sort of
national unity.

The accolade of devatâs reaches a very high register in
the fifth and eleventh chapters of Saptashati. Such
attributes as are found in living beings like sentience,
intelligence, sleep, hunger, thirst, memory, forgetfulness,
satisfaction, motherliness etc. as well as modifications in
minds of human beings like shame, pity, faith etc. are
all equated with God seen as the highly venerable
cosmic mother in the fifth chapter hymn.

But why of all places in India, the elaborate Durgâ Pûjâ
evolved only in Bengal? Very affluent people found the
Durgâ Pûjâ as a way of substituting for the prestigious
Ashvamedha sacrifice done by emperors in olden days,
sacrifice which became out of vogue and which entailed
a big military preparation. This Pûjâ could be done in
Bengal, a fertile and prosperous part of India, which
had imbibed the tantric tradition.

In the eleventh chapter, the devatâs declare: “You are the
only support of the world, because You manifest Yourself as the
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other such pujas were held in two other areas of
Kolkata, namely, Ramdhan Mitra Lane and Sikdar
Bagan. In 1926, Atindranath Bose started the first
Sârvajanîna Pûjâ where all people irrespective of caste
and creed could take part in the celebration.

To establish a link with the Vedic heritage, however,
many Vedic mantras were incorporated in the liturgy of
the Pûjâ. This necessitated research which sometimes
resulted in funny things. For example, on the night of
the 6th day of the Devîpaksha, a ceremony called
Adhivâsa is observed. During this ceremony, many
items are purified with mantras culled from the Vedas.
For purifying sindûra (vermillion), they use a mantra4
beginning with the word Sindhor which is the
possessive case of the word sindhu, originally meaning
horse in the Vedic text.

The community Durgâ Pûjâs in Kolkata number many
thousands now. They have collectively become the
largest outdoor art exhibition of the world with
innovations in the style, décor and illumination, and
other cultural contents. But true devotees should not
forget that the special manifestation of God happens in
the image only if the image is prepared with devotion,
the main organiser (or organisers) has devotion, and the
priest has devotion. This is evident from an anecdote
regarding Durgâ Pûjâ in 1885 which is recorded in Sri
Ramakrishna’s biography8.

According to the article of Mr. R. Trivedi in the Asian
Tribune (Vol.12 No. 1170): “History records that grand
celebration of Durga Puja in present form began in late 1500s.
There are many folk tales about the first Durga Puja in Bengal.
Raja Kangshanarayan of Taherpur5 organized the first autumn
Durga Puja in Bengal…. The most noted zamindar of Tahirpur
was Raja Kansa Narayan, son of Hari Narayan. It is recorded
that by spending taka nine lakhs he arranged for the gorgeous
celebration in modern fashion of Durga Puja festival in
Bengal….. Another story says the landlords or zamindars of
Dinajpur and Malda initiated the first Akchala Durga Puja in
Bengal.”

1 A Greek traveller to India attested to this fact in the year 50 A.D.,
saying that India possessed an Iliyâd of one hundred thousand verses.

Lakshmî, Sarasvatî and Pârvatî or Kâlî appeared as the popular
trinity of Devîs among the people who would be known later as
Hindus. Mahâyânî Buddhists also were worshipping a few forms of
the Divine Mother.

2

However, in spite of many stories regarding the first
Durgâ Pûjâ in Bengal, c.1606 is taken as the date of
the first such Pûjâ . We must remember that Bengal
had come under the rule of the highly liberal Mughal
emperor Akbar in 1576. This was a great opportunity
for the revival of their own religious culture by affluent
Hindu families. Durgâ Pûjâ was the first sign of the
Hindu resurgence in the domain of religious culture.
About one and a half centuries later, the Durgâ Pûjâ in
Kolkata under the auspices of Raja Nabakrishna Deb
in honour of Lord Clive, had also a similar reason
behind it. The fall of Nawab of Bengal and the
consequent beginning of the British supremacy were
perceived by Nabakrishna as an escape from the stifling
norms of Nawabs and kazis.

The system in which the altar contains five images or symbols
related to Shiva, Vishnu, Sûrya, Ganesha, and Devî the image/
symbol of the chosen ideal is placed in the centre of a quadrilateral
pattern and is used for the principal Pûjâ, while the images/symbols
of the four other devatâs are placed in four corners of the
quadrilateral and are used for minor Pûjâs.
3

4

This mantra is prescribed in Brihannandikeshwara Purâna.

Taherpur is on the bank of Varâhî river in Rajshâhi district of
Bangladesh. The article itself spells later the name of the place as
Tahirpur. There are stories about Bhabananda Mazumdar of Nadia
initiating the modern type of Durgâ Pûjâ.
5

Guptipara was famous as a seat of Sanskrit learning, for the finest
quality of rice in Bengal and for the best variety of mango grown in
Indian soil.
6

Twelve men of Guptipara6 in Chinsurah subdivision of
Hoogly district collected contributions from local
residents, and celebrated in 1790, thirty-three years
after the ascendance of the British in Bengal, the first
community Pûjâ (as opposed to Pûjâs in private homes)
called the 'baro-yaari' or the 'twelve-pal' Durgâ Pûjâ.

When a royal family is involved in a Pûjâ, it normally does not
retain its community character because of the overwhelming
patronage of the said family.
7

The book entitled Sri Ramakrishna, the Great Master gives the
following account: “The Master also got up, smiling, and suddenly
went into deep samadhi….About half an hour later the Master's
samadhi ended….. The Master then told the devotees what he had
seen in samadhi: "A luminous path opened from this place to
Surendra's house. I saw the presence of the Divine Mother in the
image; She had been evoked by Surendra's devotion. A ray of light
beamed forth from Her third eye! Rows of lamps were lit before the
goddess in the worship hall. In the courtyard Surendra was crying
piteously 'Mother, Mother!' All of you, go to his house right now.
When he sees you he will regain his peace of mind." Narendra and
some others bowed down to the Master, then left for Surendra's
house. When they asked him, they learned that rows of lamps had in
fact been lit in the worship hall as described by the Master. And when
the Master had been in samadhi, Surendra was indeed seated in the
courtyard facing the image, loudly crying ‘Mother, Mother,’ like a
boy.”
8

According to Sri Somendra Chandra Nandy, a
descendant of the royal family of Cossimbazar, the
baro-yaari Durgâ Pûjâ was brought to Kolkata in 1832
by Raja Harinath of Cossimbazar 7 , who had
performed the Durgâ Pûjâ at his ancestral home in
Murshidabad from 1824 to 1831.
In Kolkata, the first community Durgâ Pûjâ began
under the auspices of an organisation called Sanâtan
Dharmotsâhinî Sabhâ at Balaram Basu Ghat Road,
Bhawanipur (South Kolkata) in 1909. Simultaneously,
65

Essay

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Practical Vedanta
as taught by Swami Vivekananda
This article, written by a disciple, is based on information collected from
various Ramakrishna- Vivekananda literatures.

In

the poor, downtrodden people in the Murshidabad
district or the tremendous relief work performed by
Sister Nivedita and the monks, devotees and volunteers
of Ramakrishna Mission during the great plague in
Kolkata would not have been possible. We can go on
narrating several such great charitable works started by
Ramakrishna Mission under the guidance and
leadership of Swamiji based on the principle of serving
the living God.

February 1897 Swamiji returned to Kolkata from

his first trip to the West. Since then few weeks were
spent in formalities e.g. attending public receptions,
meetings citizens, old friends and fellow monks.
Thereafter his first priority was to bring his fellow
brother-monks to agree with his views on practical
Vedanta and to convince them the necessity of giving
shape to the teachings of Sri Ramakrisna in an
organised way. This task was not an easy one. Many of
the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrisna and some of his
very influential householder devotees didn’t quite agree
with Swamiji’s principle of practical Vedanta in the
form of serving others. Many of them believed that the
main aim of everyone in life should be to reach the goal
of God-Realisation through sadhana and everyone
should concentrate on that only. They didn’t see the
need to establish a Mission parallel to the Ramakrishna
Math to put to work the principles of practical Vedanta
by offering services to mankind, further they thought
that this was a western idea. Their argument was that
Sri Ramakrishna’s teachings were different. But
Swamiji saw no difference between Sri Ramakrishna’s
teachings and the alternative way to realise God by
serving Him in the form of human beings based on the
principle of - Karma is Dharma - “Work is Worship” as taught by Vedanta.

After Ramakrishna Dev’s mahasamadi, Swamiji lived
for only 10 more years, major part of which was spent
wandering from one corner of India to the other,
followed by long absences from India. So in the short
time span before his passing away Ramakrishna
Mission was established parallel to the Math on a firm
basis to render various social services to our country
people. No wonder that one of the Goals and
Objectives of the Ramkrishna Math and Mission is:
To treat all work as worship and service to man as service to God
This goal reflects so well with what Swamiji used to say:
Where can we go to find God if we cannot see Him in
our own hearts and in every living being?
Ramakrishna Dev also said in Kathamrita – “You can
see God with closed eyes and not with opened eyes?”

Sri Ramakrishna was born for the benefit of human
race. The message of “Serving God in living human
being“- (িশব jােন জীব @সবা) was first announced by Sri
Ramakrishna. Hriday, Ramakrishna Dev’s assistant
advised him to forget his householder devotees and his
direct followers and to concentrate only on his own
sadhana; but Ramakrishna Dev could not get rid of his
worries about the poor, the downtrodden masses of our
country and his yearnings to pull people, specially his
disciples and household devotees to a higher spiritual
level. We see his great sympathy for the poor people
during his pilgrimage with Mathur Babu, when he
insisted that Mathur Babu feeds the poor village people
before they proceeded. The question arises: did
Ramakrisna Dev prepare his direct disciples to follow
the principles of “Work is Worship” in the future? May
be not directly, but if we concentrate on this point and
ask ourselves would it be possible for most of the direct
disciples of Ramakrisna Dev to perform such great
work without them being prepared knowingly or
unknowingly by Him? Perhaps not. Otherwise such
great social work by Swami Akhadanandaji done for

But it is very easy for anyone to say that I am following
this principle of practical Vedanta taught by Swamiji,
but when we consider how Swamiji further defines how
this work has to be performed, we start to wonder if
such selfless work is at all possible by mortals like us,
who are full of egoism.
Swamiji had once said: “In the world take always the
position of the Giver. Give everything and look for no
return. Give love, give help, give service, give any little
thing you can, keep out barter. Make no conditions and
none will be imposed. Let us give out of our bounty,
just as God gives us”.
Swami said further:
“It is our privilege to be allowed to be charitable, for so
only can we grow. The poor suffers that we may be
helped. Let the giver kneel down and give thanks, let
the receiver stand up and permit, see the Lord in every
being”.
66

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Essay

having any ego, but ego always finds its way back in our
mind”.

The motto of the twin organisations (Ramakrishna
Math & Mission) was fittingly formulated by Swamiji
himself as:
Atmano mokshartham jagad hitaya cha
"For one's own salvation and for the welfare of the
world".

At the end we should also consider that Swamij or for
that matter Ramakrishna Dev didn’t teach us anything
new, they interpreted the age old teachings of Vedas,
Puranas etc, in a practical way, which was more
appropriate for our age.

This path of practical Vedanta by realising God in
others and being helpful to them reflects in every
religion. For example a true Muslim regularly gives his
alms. Swamiji had respect for the Muslims as in their
society the rich and well-to-do people are always
helping their fellow people, who are not so fortunate.

When at the beginning of the last century this principle
of practical Vedanta in the form of - Services to man is
service to God - was introduced by Swamijji, it was not
well received by all sections of the Indian society. When
Swamiji’s direct disciple Swami Kalyanandaji with the
help of Swami Swarupanadaji started serving the sick
sadhus and poor people in Kankhal, near Haridar they
were outcasted by the religious community there and
were called Bhangi (untouchable) Sadhus – as they not
only used to look after the sick but also used to clean
their dirt with their own hands. At that time the
practical services to fellow country people was
completely an outlandish idea in our country.

But with time this practical Vedanta of Swamiji caused
a social revolution in our country. Nowadays you will
not find anywhere in India a religious organisation or
for that matter most of the social organisations, which
are not performing some kind of service to the
community—based on the principle of Practical
Vedanta taught by Swamiji.

This principle of “Service to man is service to God”
sounds so easy to perform, but only it has to be done
with selflessness, which is very very difficult. As
Ramakrishna Dev once said – “Sometimes we do
things without being proud of ourselves, without

67

Kids Corner

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Rupanjali’s Surprise Plans
Arushi Bhattacharya: A student in
the 3rd Class of Bezirksschule,
Windisch, is perennially busy with her
piano, ballet, theatre and dance lessons.
If she manages to find some free time
after all this, she passionately engages
herself to play with words, be it poetry
or prose or Whatsapp taglines!!
Contact: arushi3105@gmail.com

“What a lovely idea!”, Alina said. Tamara nodded and
Michelle said: “Oh yes!”
After convincing Rupanjali, they all went out together.
In her excitement, Rupa had forgotten to take her
handbag along. They bought a lot of clothes at a posh
shopping mall. Since Rupa wasn’t carrying any money,
they paid for her and Rupa promised to pay them back
later. Then they went to a café and spent few hours
drinking and chatting. They even paid for her drinks.
Rupa enjoyed their company a lot.

“Ma

, ma, it’s going to be a boy!”, Rupanjali (Rupa)

exclaimed as she hurriedly returned home, after school
one afternoon. “That’s wonderful!”, her mother replied.
Nora’s mother was expecting a baby. Rupa and her
friends were quite excited about it. “How is she?”, Rupa’s
mother asked. “Oh, she’s fine”, Rupa replied.

Around 11pm, a drunken Rupanjali returned home—
where her parents were waiting anxiously for her. She
kept muttering something. Her parents were shocked to
see their daughter in that state! They declared dire
consequences for this act, although it was unclear if
Rupa was in a conscious state or not. Fortunately next
day was a Saturday, so she didn’t have to get up early.
Still feeling unwell, Rupanjali faintly tried to recall what
had happened to her last evening but she just couldn’t.
So she asked her parents and they told her what they
had witnessed. All Rupanjali could remember was that
she went shopping with Alina, Vanessa, Tamara and
Michelle. So she called them up one by one. None of
them revealed anything, except Tamara. She told her
the whole story. Actually Tamara wasn’t that
hardheaded. She only hanged out with those girls to
avoid their wrath.

“What are you making for lunch today?”
“Paratha and Eggtarka”, her mom announced. Rupa’s
eyes sparkled when she heard that, and then she went
up to her room to finish her homework. After lunch she
went to Mandy’s place. Sarah, Ruth and Lucy were
there too. They wanted to plan a surprise for Nora and
her family. “How about a surprise party?”, Ruth asked. “A
baby shower? I’m not sure...”, Lucy said. After a few hours
of serious brain racking, they came up with an exciting
plan.
Rupanjali went home. Her parents had gone to an
important meeting.

Later that day Rupanjali’s father found a huge invoice
in the mail. Apparently his daughter had bought
clothes worth 650 Francs l!! Rupanjali didn’t even like
all the clothes so she was ready to return most of them.
Then she could at least afford to pay rest of the invoice
herself.

There was a knock at the door.
She was surprised to see Vanessa, Alina, Tamara and
Michelle, who were the most head strong girls in her
class. Rupanjali had never spoken to them because
Mandy had warned her against them. Readers may
remember the animosity between the two groups from
the first episode of Rupanjali (published last year in
Swisspuja Patrika). Now in seventh grade she thought
she was wise enough to handle them, so she let them in.
“Oh hello, girls”, Rupanjali greeted them.

“Rupa, we are utterly disappointed with you. We don’t know if
you heard the punishment yesterday. We assume that you didn’t; so
we are repeating it again: You are not allowed to go out without us
for the next two months”, her parents said.
Rupanjali broke into tears. She would have been able to
accept the punishment if Nora’s mom wouldn’t have
been pregnant. She had to go out to plan the surprise!
Rupanjali went back to her room and discussed with
her friends through Skype. They came to her place
immediately. They tried to console her. Initially they
could not believe their ears when they heard about
Rupanjali’s actions last evening. They were frantically
racking their brains to get an idea to convince her
parents to let her go alone because the surprise was
meant to be kept as a secret. Suddenly Ruth had an
idea: “Hey Rupa, your parents said you aren’t allowed to go out
alone but they didn’t say you’re not allowed to have visitors.”
Rupa looked at Ruth flabbergasted.

“Hi Rupa”, Vanessa said. She pushed Rupa aside and
entered the living room, followed by the rest.
“Oh, looks like you’re home alone. You don’t mind us being here,
right?”, Vanessa asked.
“She is so polite. I don’t know why she is not liked by others”,
Rupa thought to herself.
She answered as politely as she could, “Of course not,
Vanessa, why should I?”
Vanessa smiled.

“I thought so. And please call me Vani. So how about a Girls
Shopping Evening? What do you say, girls?”, she asked and
looked around.

So they went ahead with their plans. Suddenly Mandy
buzzed: “How about if we take revenge for what Vanessa and
68

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015
Co. did?” The girls looked at each other bewildered.
“Great idea!”, said Lucy. “But what?”, Sarah asked. “First
of all let’s invite Nora for this. So, our meeting for the surprise
party is finished, right?”, Rupa said.

Kids Corner

She didn’t even want to buy but we managed to convince her. She
asked for the invoice by mail. Then Alina and Michelle dressed
up as adults and bought a lot of alcohol. We made Rupa drink it.
She was stupid enough to drink it without knowing what it was.
Then she got drunk. We walked around till 11pm and then
brought her home. I bet she was rebuked.”

Rupa then called Nora and invited her. Rupa narrated
her story to all of them. They planned to take revenge.
Vanessa, Alina and Michelle were always on the
threshold of being rusticated. The teachers had warned
them that they would be thrown out of school if they
caused further problems. On Monday, Rupa
approached Vanessa as if nothing had happened. “Hey
Vani!”, she said hugging her, “We have to repeat what we did
on Friday. It was so awesome!” Vani looked at her friends
and Rupa could guess what it meant: She is so stupid.
But we don’t have any problem with destroying her. So
let’s do it! Rupa was very happy as she saw that look.

Camilla: “But why did she come today?”
Vanessa: “To tell us she enjoyed it and would love to repeat it. It
looks like she is on her way to get addicted.”
Camilla: “Wow, you’re so clever! Well I’m off now, was nice
chatting with you. Bye Vani!”
Vanessa: “Bye!”
Miss Forster was shocked but she was also amazed by
the idea of the girls. “Well done, girls. We have no idea about
how many other students were tricked by her. But hopefully your
smart action can put an end to it. You may go now. I will keep the
recorder and make her parents listen to it. Let’s see what they have
to say about this”, she said. “Thank you very much, Miss
Forster. Bye!”, the girls said and went.

Vanessa looked at her innocently and said, “Oh of course!
We are so happy that you enjoyed it!”
“You know what? I’ll contact you when I am free. Bye for
now!”. Rupa rushed to her friends, where Camilla was
waiting.
As soon as Rupa reached, Camilla went to Vanessa’s
group. “Actually we could also have used Tamara”, Rupa
said. “True, but how would you give her the recorder?”
“Hmm...ya, you’re right”, Rupa answered Sarah’s
question. Soon Camilla came to them. “That was
shocking! I wonder if they speak about everybody like that. But I
think we have enough proof. Let’s listen to it”, Camilla said.
They listened to it and were quite happy that their plan
had worked so far. “I think this is enough. Let’s go to Miss
Forster”, Lucy decided. Miss Forster was the principal of
the Swiss International in Basel. She listened to the
recording:

Soon enough Vanessa, Alina and Michelle were
rusticated from the school. Rupa’s parents withdrew the
punishment and they could plan the surprise. They also
included Camilla in their group. Two months passed
and Nora had a baby brother. They named him
Matthew. Meanwhile the girls made invitation cards,
booked a hall and set up everything. The girls would
need Nora’s help so they told her what she had to do.
The day Nora’s mom came out of hospital Nora took
her to the hall. Suddenly a cuddly looking bear came to
her mother and took the baby. On the stage there was a
little throne. They put the baby on it and put a crown
on his head. Then a rabbit, a dog, a penguin and a
panda came in. They all had two presents with them;
one for Nora’s mom and one for the baby. Everyone
was surprised and happy. After giving the presents
Nora took a picture of the animals with the baby who
was still on the throne. The girls were happy that
everything worked out so well. The parents even had as
surprise at the end. “We have a surprise for you too girls”,
Lucy’s mom said, “We are flying to Barcelona altogether!”

Camilla: “Hey Vani, what was Rupa doing here? You aren’t
friends, are you?” Vanessa laughs nastily and says:
“Friends? With her? That’s ridiculous!”
Camilla: “Why was she here then?”
Vanessa: “You know the girls and I went to meet her last Friday.
She was alone so we invited her to a Girls Shopping Event. She
didn’t take any money with her. We bought a lot of things for her.

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015
Parthiv Kangsabanik, born and brought
up in Basel, is a student of secondary school.
His hobbies are playing football, tennis,
cricket, reading books and other sports.
He also learns Sarod at the Ali Akbar
College of Music in Basel.
Contact: parthivkangsabanik@gmail.com

Simple
Science
Experiments
Science

Procedure:
i. The egg is placed over the mouth of the bottle.
ii. As the size of egg is bigger than the mouth of the
bottle, the egg just sits on the mouth of the bottle.
iii. Next, the egg is removed, and the bottle is filled with
very hot water.
iv. After a minute or two, the water is thrown away, and
immediately the egg is placed over the mouth of the
bottle.
v. Then, it is observed that the egg is slowly entering

sometimes sounds like magic, but

this magic can be explained with reasons. Here in this
article two simple but interesting experiments are
explained.
Blooming of a paper flower in water
This experiment will show you how a paper flower
blooms in water.
Equipments required:
• A bowl filled with water
• A paper cut in the shape of a flower and folding it’s
petals completely.
Procedure:
i. The folded paper flower is placed in a bowl, which is
partly filled with water.
ii. In a few minutes, it is observed that the petals of the

the bottle. It takes a few minutes. If the water is not
very hot, then it takes longer for the egg to go in.
Next we proceed with the extraction of the egg from
the bottle.
Procedure:
Keeping the bottle, in an inclined/upside down

flower open outwards, as if the flower is blooming in
water
Scientific reason:
By capillary action, water penetrates into the minute
pores of the paper fibers and swells, thus the corners of
folded paper relax and open like petals of a flower.
Inserting a boiled egg into a bottle, whose
mouth is smaller than the size of the egg,
followed by extracting it out again

position, air is blown by mouth into the bottle. Soon the
egg comes out of the bottle.
Scientific Reason:
When the bottle is filled with hot water, the air inside it
expands and escapes out, thus creating some vacuum
within the bottle. Next, when the egg is placed
immediately over the mouth of the bottle, the bottle is
sealed. As the air pressure within the bottle is less than
that of outside, the egg gets pushed into the bottle.

In this experiment, one can see, how an egg which is
bigger than the mouth of a bottle, can be inserted into
a bottle and can also be taken out of the bottle, without
breaking the bottle.
Sounds like magic, but it can be explained with science.
Equipments required:
• A glass bottle, with it’s mouth smaller than an egg
• Very hot water
• A boiled egg, whose shell has been removed

Next when, air is blown into the bottle, high pressure is
created inside the bottle, which forces the egg to come
out.
70

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Kids Corner

My Puja in India!
Shorosuti thakur, Lakhki thakur and Kartik thakur. There was
also Asur who was the bad guy. All the thakurs have their
favourite pets with them. They are called ”bahons” and
are their best friends. We fed all the thakurs some sweets
on the last day before they went up on the Lorry, I
couldn’t reach Durga thakur’s mouth so my dad picked
me up so that I could reach and feed her dessert before
she was leaving.

Advay Mukherjee studies in Grade 3.
Uncorrected and undisturbed text from
the pages of a 9 year old’s diary. Loves to
play soccer and drums, has a lot of
friends and a great sense of humour.
Contact: 828isu@gmail.com

Last

I also went on the Lorry with my sister, father and my
friends. I played with my new friends later, I played
with toy guns, it was cool!! I thought it was cool
because I have never played with so many friends at the
same time! Then we went to another temple and it was
pretty much the same as the one next to the house of
my grandparents so it wasn’t that much fun….But I still
liked it a teeny tiny bit! Later we went back to my
grandparent’s house; I told them everything about the
temple! Then when I finished talking they said, “What
did you do there?” “I told them that we fed the thakurs
sweets like we did yesterday at this temple!! My
grandparents said, “The sweet that we fed them was
called: Sandesh.” I said, ”Ohhhh. It’s the same thing that
mamma makes sometimes.”

year in India was really fun! I liked it the

most because it was Autumn and it was Durga puja!
Autumn is my favorite season because then I can collect
the leaves, flatten them and put them in frame!!!
The day we landed my mamma said that we were
going to many places. I got very excited and jumped up
and down! We went to many different temples that
looked like houses but were actually made out of cloth
and different materials. There was music playing
everywhere and every single road had lights for
decoration. I had to enter the temple with my father
most of the times as there were different lines for my
sister and mother and me and my father. People were
selling things but I wasn’t allowed to buy them but I
was allowed to eat my Phuchka!! I also made many new
friends!! Near my grandparent’s house there was a big
temple, I saw: Gonesh thakur my favorite, Durga thakur,

One

As the plane took off from Kolkata airport I left behind
my grandparents, my new friends, all the pujas, my
favourite Tollygunge Club and so many people and
cars!! I sometimes wonder if all the thakurs are real. My
mother tells me to feel them inside me. I will try!

of the most compelling stories in Hindu mythology is that of the Churning of the Milky Ocean. It is the

story of the gods versus the demons and their fight to gain immortality. It also tells of the rebirth of Lakshmi. Indra,
the warrior god, was given the responsibility of protecting the world
The Rebirth of Lakshmi against the demons. He had protected it successfully for many years,
and the goddess Lakshmi's presence had made him sure of success.
One day, a wise sage offered Indra a garland of sacred flowers. In his
arrogance, Indra threw the flowers to the floor. According to Hindu
belief, this display of arrogance upset Lakshmi, who left the world of
the gods and entered into the Milky Ocean. Without her, the gods
were no longer blessed with success or fortune. The world became
darker, people became greedy, and no offerings were made to the
gods. The gods began to lose their power and the asuras (demons)
took control. Indra asked Vishnu what should be done. He told Indra
that the gods would need to churn the Milky Ocean to regain
Lakshmi and her blessings. He then told them the Ocean held other
treasures which would also help them. This included the elixir of life,
a potion bestowing immortality, which would enable them to defeat
the demons.
The story of the Churning of the Ocean tells of how the gods worked
together to churn the ocean. They churned for many years, but it was
1,000 years before anything rose to the surface. Finally, the treasures
began to rise to the surface. Among them, a beautiful woman standing
on a lotus flower. This was Lakshmi, who had returned to the world.
Painting by Nayanika Debnath With her presence, the gods eventually defeated the demons and
chased them out of the world. This story highlights the good fortune
and success that Lakshmi bestows upon those who work hard and seek help sincerely. It also demonstrates that during
times of success, one must never become complacent or arrogant, as success has a way of getting away from people.
71

Kids‘ Gallery

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Lady Bird Beetle
Aahiri Banerjee
3 years

Bharatiya Nari
Adrita Sanyal
2 years

Summer Flower
Annesha Bajpai
2 years

Mamma‘s Sunflower
Arisha Dhar
9 months
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SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Kidâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s Gallery

D
e
s
i

T
r
i
s
h
a

G
i
r
l

P
a
l
(5
m.)

Performing at Kurtheater Baden
Arushi Bhattacharya

Durga Thakur
Archisha Ray
10 months

The Bengalis
Iris Bhattacharya(4 yrs)
Ayush Bhattacharya(1 yr)
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Kids‘ Gallery

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Ballet Performance in Zurich
Ihita Bhattacharya
4 years

Receiving his Blue Belt
Sasmit Bhattacharya
10 years

D
A
N
C
E
R

P
r
a
k
r
i
t
i
S
a
d
h
u
(7
yrs)

Childrens‘ Parade
Reyan Chakraborty
2 years
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SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Kidâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s Gallery

The Bengali Look
Adhrit Bose (7 yrs)
Jeet Bose (3 yrs)

S
h
i
v
T
h
a
k
u
r

dance performance at
Nateshwar Academy

Samanvay Ray (2 years)

Ritika Chakraborty

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Kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; Gallery

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Little Krishna

Ice skating Ring, Bern

Ishaan Banerjee(4 years)

Aarna Debnath

The Drummer
Shukrit Rakshit
(10 years)

Singing performance at
concert in Kornhaus,
Bern
Nayanika Debnath
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SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

77

Recipe

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Chilli Chicken
Preparation time 20 mins
Cooking Time 30 mins
Serves 4-5 persons
Anjana Rakshit, born in India, graduated from
College of Art, New Delhi, worked for 7 years as an
artist, trained in classical vocal music. Home maker,
mother of two, lives with family in Switzerland since
last 12 years. Loves cooking and singing.
Contact: anjanarakshit2004@yahoo.com

Fulkopi’r Chot Joldi
Srijani Bhattacharya
A Business English Coach for Company
executives, Srijani has been enjoying the
flavours of Switzerland for 15 years. After a
long toil for the completion of her Masters in
Education recently, she has found time to
rekindle her ardor for cooking and
choreographing once again.
Contact: srijani.b@gmail.com

with the stump down first. Mix in the freshly
ground garam masala and sugar.

Preparation:
1. Immerse the cauliflower in brine made of
2 cups of water and 1 tsp of salt. Allow the
cauliflower to soak in this brine for 15
minutes. Remove it and allow it to dry. Slit
the base slightly so that the marinade can
seep in.

5. Keep deep frying on a low temperature
until the oil separates from the masala.
6. After about 10 minutes turn the
cauliflower to make the stump facing up.
7. After about 20 minutes, check for
doneness. The cauliflower should hold its
shape and not be mushy.

2. Grind together the ginger, onion and
green chilies to make a fine paste.
3. Marinate the cauliflower with onionginger-chili paste, tomato puree, coriander
powder, cumin powder and salt.

8. Place the cauliflower on a platter, lined
with crispy lettuce leaves, and pour the
masala over it. Garnish with chopped
cilantro.

Mini-mango Cupcakes and
Cardamom Meringues
Agomoni Ganguli Mitra
Agomoni is Bong at Durga Puja, Genevoise at
Fondue season, World Citizen at heart, too old for
all-nighters and too young for a mid-life crisis.
Contact: agoganguli@yahoo.co.uk

Preparation:
A handful of raspberries, or your choice of berries. I
tend to prefer berries with a tart edge, to provide a nice
contrast to the meringue.

When your cupcakes look almost done, prepare the
mix for the meringue:
Beat the eggs and vanilla until foamy.
Slowly add the sugar while you keep
beating the mixture. Beat until you can
see stiff peaks for ming. Add the
cardamom and mix.

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Line you cupcake tin with butter and
then flour (cupcake liners work well too).
Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt
and baking powder. Keep aside. Beat the
butter and sugar together until the mix is
pale yellow. Beat in one egg at a time.
Add the vanilla essence and beat for a few
more seconds. In a separate bowl
combine the yogurt and puree and add it
slowly to your mixture until it looks more or less
uniform. Fold in the flour mixture.

Once your cupcakes are out of the oven,
line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Using an icing bag, pipe the meringue
mix onto the paper in the form of bitesize cookie. Bake for about an hour at 140
degree celsius, or until they are firm when
you lightly tap them.
Cool the cupcakes and meringue and serve with the
berries in whatever manner makes you smile ☺. Enjoy.

Bake in the oven for approx. 15 mins or until a tooth
pick comes out clean.

A spicy Mangalorian Chicken Curry
This fantastic curry is eaten with crisp sun dried rice
rotis, typical of the Mangalore region or with rava
rotis, dosa or even rice.
Ramakrishna Kukkila
I've been living with my family in Switzerland since
2011. I'm an engineer with a business management
background. In my spare time, I enjoy cooking and
gardening. Contact: rkukkila@gmail.com

4. Grind all the ingredients from steps 1 to 3
with the tamarind with some of the thin
coconut milk, into a fine paste.

Coconut milk is obtained by grating a brown
coconut, mixing the resulting meat with a
small amount of water to dissolve the fat.
Thick milk is obtained by squeezing the
grated coconut through a cheesecloth. When
the squeezed meat is soaked in water and
squeezed further the resultant liquid is the thin
coconut milk. A bag of frozen grated coconut will
yield the required amount of thick and thin milk.
required for the above recipe.

5. Add this paste to a pan and sauté for
about 2 minutes, add the chicken, salt and the
remaining thin coconut milk.
6. Bring this to a boil and simmer until the chicken
pieces cook.
79

1. Preparing the Chicken
• Marinate the chicken with garlic-ginger paste, bit of
salt, pinch of white pepper & bit of MSG .
• Add one egg and 2 tablespoon of corn starch to make
the marinate thick. Keep it aside for 30 mins.
• Deep fry the chicken cubes and keep it aside.
2. Preparing Noodles
• Boil water in a saucepan. Add pinch of salt and few
drops of olive oil in it. Add noodles and keep it for 2-3
minutes. Then drain water before noodles become
sticky.

cake out onto a plate, and keep it warm while you
prepare the sauce.
3. Preparing Sauce/Gravy
• Boil water in the wok and blanch
the vegetables (item 4-12) for 2 mins.
After that strain the vegetables

• Heat up two tablespoon of oil in a
wok until it's shimmering. Grease it
well. Gently slide the half of the
noodles into the oil, swirling them
around to get a nice even shape, and
then turn the heat down to medium.
Add ½ table spoon of oil from the
top. When the bottom of the noodle
cake is golden brown, flip it to the
other side.

• Then take 2 tablespoon of oil in
the wok. Add garlic and fry till it
becomes light brown then add
ginger and stir for a minute.
• Add cashew nut and stir fry for 30s
• Now add blanched vegetables and
stir fry for 2 minutes. Add spring
onion.

Tips: If you can’t kee p the
shape,slide it out of the wok and
onto a plate. Working quickly so
that the bottom stays crispy, place a second plate on top
of the noodles and flip and then put it into the wok
again.

• Add chicken stock 2 cup bring it to
boil. add soya sauce
• Add salt, sugar and MSG to taste and then five spice.
• Add fried chicken. Finally cornstarch to thicken it.
Cook it at medium heat for 2-3 minutes and put it on
the fried crispy noodles and serve hot.

• Turn down the flame to medium and continue
cooking, swirling regularly, until the noodles are
completely cooked and crisp on both sides. Slide the

80

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

Recipe

Chaat and
Amrakhand

What is ‘Chaat’?
Chaat is a tasty and addictive snack which is popularly
sold by small vendors at road-side stalls in India. Chaat
stalls are where friends meet and talk endlessly with
yummy small portions of food inside their mouth. I like
to chat while enjoying my chaat! From a very young age,
I used to help my mother in the kitchen and just by
observing her in her daily cooking I managed to learn
so much from her. My mother always used to say that
one can learn a lot, just by observing others. My entire
family when I was growing up was fond of eating
varieties of vegetarian food, and my mother used to be
very creative in trying out different vegetables, mix and
match them, for our meals. We were always very happy
with our ‘home-cooked’ meals and rarely went out to
eat.

Kirtimalini Gadre: A dynamic
woman, born in Kalyan, Maharashtra,
engineer by education and Business
analyst by profession and a cook by
hobby. Creativity in anything attracts
her as much as working for a social
cause. She lives in Zurich with her
husband and daughter and organizes
frequent Chaat stalls. Contact:
kirtimalini03@googlemail.com

As I was growing up, I started trying out several
varieties of Chaat— in restaurants, food stalls, and
shops. I always used to ask around how they made this
or that and if I got the chance I stood watching them
prepare these mouth-savoring dishes. My favorite food
area happens to be awesome chaats varieties in Mumbai.

To make this delicious Chaat we need a base that is—
flat fried Puris, 3 sauces, salad and Bhujiya.
Puris: For 1 kg of white flour, add 100 gm oil, add salt
to taste. Make a dough, keep it aside for around half an
hour then dole out small Puris and deep fry them.
Before immersing the Puris in oil, fork them, so that
they don’t puff out.

Generally, I always try to learn and master a recipe if I
like a particular dish. After repeated trials and errors
and years of practice, now I think I have managed to
learn almost all chaats known to me—no teacher, just
by the simple act of observing others, asking, reading,
analyzing and experimenting in my own kitchen!

Sauces: We need 3 sauces/chutneys: Tamarind-datesjaggery sweet sauce; green sauce and a red sauce.
For the Tamarid-dates-jaggery chutney soak tamarind,
jaggery and seedless dates in water. Grind
dates into a paste. Squeeze tamarind, mix
together all three ingredients above and then
add a pinch of salt and add ground roasted
cumin seeds along with some Fenchel
powder in it.
Red chutney is made from red dried chilies
soaked in water for 5 to 6 hrs., ground
together with cumin seeds and garlic, 2
cloves, 1 cardamom and a little cinnamon.
For the green chutney grind together mint
leaves, coriander leaves, chilies, ginger, salt
and black salt. After grinding them, add
lemon juice to it and your sauce is ready!

Today I would like to share with you my
two favourite recipes: Aamrakhand and
Shev puri. Hope you will like them as
much as I do.
Aamrakhand:
This is a typical Marathi sweet-dish
made from yoghurt, sugar, mango pulp
and an optional garnishing with cashews.
Procedure: Buy as high fat yoghurt as you
can, say 1 kilo. Pour it into a cotton
cloth, tie the mouth and hang it. Keep it hanging in the
cloth for about 12 to 18 hours. Say, if you start the
process at 7pm today then by 7am tomorrow your
yoghurt should be ready. Transfer the yoghurt which is
now thicker (like paneer) into a bowl. If this pulp of
yoghurt weighs 500 gm then add 350 gm sugar to it (i.e.
2/3rd of the weight of the ‘hanging’ yoghurt). Mango
pulp or slices can be bought in Indian shops. If you buy
pulp then make it thicker in a pan (approx. Jam’s
consistency). Reason being pulp is viscous
and will make Amrakhand more liquid. If
you buy mango slices then grind them
with a hand mixer and add the pulp to
the yoghurt extract. Mix the yoghurt and
the pulp well and keep it in the fridge for
1 or 2 hrs. Let the sugar and mango pulp
penetrate deep into the yogurt. After 2
hours your Amrakhand is ready. It is
generally consumed with Puris or Rotis.
Don’t forget to put your heart in it, it will taste all
the more better!!

Salad: For the salad we need mashed potatoes, finely
chopped onions, tomatoes and coriander leaves.
Place 5 to 6 Puris in a plate and place potatoes on top
of them. Sprinkle chaat masala on the potatoes and
then add chopped onions and tomato on top of it. Add
first the red chilli sauce, then the green
sauce and then cover the Puri s with the
sweet jaggery sauce. Add yoghurt if you
like it (optional) and then cover the Puris
completely with Shev (Bhujiya). Spread a
bit of chopped coriander leaves on top
and squeeze a bit of lemon on top—and
voilà your yummy Shevpuri is now ready!
Remember it’s not the ingredients but your
handling of them and affection towards the
process that makes a recipe mouth-watering!!!
Do try both these recipes and if you need any further
assistance don’t hesitate to contact me! Wishing you a
happy cooking time!

Shev Batata Puri:
This Chaat is according to my observation available
only in Mumbai and around.
81

Santanu Chakraborty
Originally from Kolkata, I have carved a beautiful life in
Zurich with my wife Jhilam and son Vivaan for the past 7
years. Professionally an IT consultant, an avid and multifaceted sportsman, I see photography as an art of freezing
reality over a lifetimeâ&#x20AC;Śand as a Nikonian, am amazed
with it's glass manufacturers who make lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s precious
moments, last for ever!
Contact: santa23in@gmail.com

Sandipan Chakraborty
A photo fanatic, Sandipan believes that every picture
contains an entire story within a single frame, a living
proof of every moment that has ever been. An IT
consultant by profession, he has been residing in Bern
since 2005 and has recently moved to Zurich with his
family. A connoisseur of life, he loves to travel in
search of new visual, cultural and culinary delights.
Apart from photography, he is immensely passionate
about astro-physics and often finds himself lost in a philosophical wormhole.

Photo
index:
84

1. Paradise
2. Silhouette
3. Lucid
Shadows

4. Drenched
5. Exiled
6. The Rainbow
Maker

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

85

!ব#

SWISSPUJA PATRIKA 2015

আিম ভব)ের
Sourin Bose
The fate of the author took him to various countries since 1961 until he finally got stuck in Switzerland. During his
travels he made a stopover at Imperial College in London for a few years (1975-79). Previously he had visited the
MCST(Manchester, UK). He graduated in EE from BEC(CU) with SCL in 1960. He was one of the four award
winners of AEI(Overseas)Scholarship in 1961 from India. He is a life member of IEEE, and members of
SPIE(USA) and IOP(UK). He also held the ham call sign G4TLF in UK. He is interested in Astronomy, Radio
Astronomy (Distinction from Jodrell Bank, UK) amongst many other things (ask him).
E-Mail: yachoohh@yahoo.com

Dipanjana Ghosh, living in Switzerland with husband
and son since last 20 years, from Kolkata, loves reading
books and writing, would rather call herself an ordinary
housewife. Contact: deepanjana14@gmail.com

Diptanil Sengupta: A supposedly
artistic Taurean who took up science and
ended up with technology. A once-upon-atime wannabe actor who now occasionally
hits the stage. An avid reader, a fitness and
movie freak, a food lover.
Contact: diptanil.sengupta@gmail.com

Rajsekhar Paul, works as a pharmaceutical scientist in Basel since 2008. Raj’s passion for fine art, poetry and
photography has flourished over past years. Being one of the founding members of a newly opened art gallery in
Basel, Raj exhibited many of his works at different international galleries and art fairs.
Contact: paulrajsekhar@gmail.com

Lতী4া
Tandra Chakraborty Sanyal, Founder of an activity centre for kids in Baden. Being a mother of a two year
old, I love to spend time with children. Dance is my passion. In addition, reading, writing and acting are my best
free-time activities. I have done my Masters in mass-communication from Jadavpur University, India. I am a
trained classical dancer (Kathak – an Indian classical dance form), holding a Master degree in the same. I have
my own dance school in Zurich. Contact: tandra_a2002@yahoo.co.in

িনতাই-এর কািহনী
Arabinda Roy
Born in Bangladesh, he grew up in
India. Design engineer by profession, he
worked in Switzerland for 41 years. Post
retirement, he keeps busy with friends
and family. He also wrote a book „An
Atelier“. He wishes our next generation
to not only assimilate with the Swiss
culture but also remain rooted to Indian
culture and traditions.
Contact: arabmnju@hispeed.ch